


Wolves and Witches

by thornconnelly



Series: Stilinski Cousins [2]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Deputy Derek Hale, Derek Hale & Sheriff Stilinski Bonding, F/F, F/M, Family Bonding, M/M, Magic!Stiles, POV Alternating, POV Original Female Character, Scott is a Good Alpha, Spark Stiles Stilinski, Temporarily dark!Stiles, slow burn sterek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-21
Updated: 2018-08-26
Packaged: 2019-06-30 15:00:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 23
Words: 42,935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15754092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thornconnelly/pseuds/thornconnelly
Summary: The sequel to my fic "So I'm a Werewolf Now" although this could exist mostly as a standalone.After Stiles' cousin Agie was bitten by a rogue werewolf, Derek and Cora helped her adjust to being a werewolf. Now that she's graduated high school, she moves to Beacon Hills to get ready for college.Also a young woman and her family move to Beacon Hills looking for a nice, quiet place to live, hoping that the locals won't mind that she's a witch and her husband is a werewolf.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This has been a really ambitious project for me. I've never written something with alternating POVs before, and it's HARD.

Sonia looked around the house she and her husband, CJ, had just purchased. It had seemed like an impetuous decision at first, buying a house, but both of them felt like they could finally stop running and settle down. The house was located on a nice quiet block in a nice town. Sonia chuckled because the house even had a picket fence and shutters. 

“Not having any second thoughts, are you doll?” her husband asked as he walked up behind her and slung an arm over her shoulders.

“No,” she shakes her head, “but I’m almost nervous about how perfect this town seems. And how comfortable we both feel here. This is a nothing town—what makes it feel so different and perfect to us?”

CJ shrugs, kisses the top of her head, and walks back towards a pile of boxes to unpack. They had been in the house for three days now and had managed to unpack all of their important things, and had gone shopping at the IKEA in the next town over to buy pretty much everything else they would need to fill up the house. Sonia couldn’t wait until they finished settling into the house, because having everything thrown around haphazardly set her teeth on edge. 

The kitchen timer went off, drawing Sonia’s attention back to the dinner that she had been preparing. She walked back towards the pot of steaming stew on the stove and patted her daughter's head as she played with her LEGOS on the kitchen floor.

“What are you building there, my darling?”

“A dog house,” Dayita replied without looking up. Building LEGOs was an important activity, one that required every ounce of focus that her two-and-a-half-year-old could spare.

“Oh yea? Who’s going to live in the dog house?”

“The wolf.”

“What wolf?” Sonia loved that her daughter was starting to talk more. Since they had moved around so much during her life, she often worried that she was denying her daughter the stability that she would need to really thrive. But now that they’ve bought a house, she’s determined to stay here and build the life her daughter deserves.

“The new wolf. He’s black.”

“Is he a nice wolf?”

“Yes. He looks mean, but he’s nice.” Dayita finally looked up at her mom as she put the finishing touches on her dog house.

“It looks like a beautiful house. Now, how would you like to help me set the table for dinner?”

Dayita jumped up and held her two hands out for her plastic bowl and spoon. She loved doing things for herself, and was often upset that her size and little hands prevented her from doing everything that she wanted to, but setting her own plate and cleaning it up after eating was one of the chores that Sonia let her do each day. 

As Sonia carried the rest of the plates into the dining room, CJ walked into the kitchen, “This smells absolutely amazing, babe. Can I bring it over?”

“Sure, just make sure you grab a cozy so we don’t burn the table already!”

CJ grinned as he placed the stew on the table and turned to tickle Dayita as she sat wiggling in her chair, “What’s this I hear about a wolf house? Are you going to make your dad sleep out there?”

“No. It’s for a real wolf. You’re not a real wolf.”

“Oh, yes. Thank you for that distinction.” 

Sonia spooned stew into everyone’s plate, and made sure that Dayita’s was significantly cooled down before passing it back towards her daughter.

“So I think I’m going to go to the Sheriff’s office in the morning, to see if they are hiring deputies.” CJ said as he tore a piece of naan and dipped it in his stew.

“That sounds perfect, mishti. I’m sure they could use your help.”

CJ shrugs, “Well, I haven’t worked as a deputy in two years, and how am I going to explain that to them? ‘I can’t give you any references because my last job was working with my family and they all hate me now.’ How do you think that will go over?”

“Just be honest with them, obviously you don’t have to tell them everything, but don’t lie to them either.” Sonia reached across the table and placed her hand over CJ’s. “I just have a really good feeling about this town. I’m sure that you’ll get the deputy job.”

Dayita reached her hand out and put it on top of her mom’s and dad’s. Sonia couldn’t help but smile down at her daughter, the most precious thing that she had ever seen in the whole world, “What are we holding hands for?” 

Sonia and CJ locked eyes across the table and couldn’t help but laugh. 

**

“Dayita, come back in here—you haven’t finished your waffles yet,” Sonia called as she finished wiping down the kitchen counter.

“But Mom, Peppa Pig is on, and you said I can watch one show and I want to watch Peppa Pig.”

“All right, mishti, but take your plate with you. I know you love Peppa Pig, but breakfast is still important.”

Dayita jumped up and raced into the kitchen, where she carefully picked up her plate and carried it into the living room. She set it down on the floor in front of where she was sitting, and proceeded to slowly munch on her waffles as she sat and watched TV. 

Sonia watched her daughter for a minute before she headed back into the kitchen. She had big plans for today, and once CJ got back from the Sheriff’s department, she’d be able to get started. But until then, she wanted to make sure that she had everything she would need to get started. 

Just as Sonia set out the last of her supplies on the kitchen table, the front door opened and CJ came in. She stuck her head through the kitchen doorway, “How did it go?”

CJ grinned and stopped to kiss Dayita on the head as he walked by and opened his arms for Sonia to step into as he got close, “It won’t be official until they finish the background check and run my prints, but you’re looking at the newest Beacon Hills deputy!”


	2. Chapter 2

“So… a sleepover? I haven’t had one of those since middle school,” Agie said as she threw some clothing in her backpack.

“Agie, we sleep in the same bed almost every night, how is this any different?” Cora asked as she watched Agie pack.

“You’re pack,” Agie replied, “Ever since I was bitten and became a werewolf you’ve seemed more like a sister than anything else. It doesn’t seem weird when we share a bed.”

“Well Allison and Lydia are pack too. Scott and Derek want us to bond with them, or something.”

Agie closed her backpack and dropped it on the floor as she sat down next to Cora on the bed. “It’s just weird, I guess, I really just finished unpacking my things the other day, and I’ve hung out with the whole pack a bunch of times, but it’s kind of … I don’t know, it’s just weird that they’re human.”

Cora leaned closer to Agie and nudged her with her elbow, “You do remember that Stiles is human, right?”

Agie laughed and rubbed her face with her hands, “I know, but he’s also family. I know, intellectually, that Allison and Lydia are pack… they just don’t feel like it yet.”

“That’s why you’re going to hang out with them,” Derek said as he stood in the doorway. He crossed his arms as the two girls looked up at him, “Agie, you’re adjusting to a lot, moving to Beacon Hills and fitting in with this pack. And you’re still adjusting to being a werewolf—you’re doing a great job so far—but you’ve only gone through two full moons. This is a good pack, even if it’s a little unconventional, with good people in it. You don’t have to be best friends with Lydia or Allison, but I think you’ll like them both once you get to know them.” 

Agie grinned as she stood up and walked towards Derek, “Good job sounding like a big brother there, Der.”

As Agie got within arm’s reach, Derek pulled her into a big hug. Agie tucked her nose into his neck and inhaled deeply. Sometimes she couldn’t believe that she had only known Derek and Cora for a few short months now; ever since she had been bitten and became a werewolf, they had been at her side. They were her pack—and she sometimes felt like they were the only pack that she needed. The only problem was that she wasn’t the only person in their pack—when they met Agie, the two siblings had been on a sort of vacation away from their regular pack. They had prolonged their trip to stay with her to help with her transition, but now that she graduated high school, they had all moved back to their home in Beacon Hills. It was also super convenient that the college she was planning on attending in the fall was only about twenty minutes away. 

Agie lifted her head as she felt Cora step up behind her and wrap her arms around both Derek and herself. She felt beyond comfortable between them—it felt like home, even though they were in her brand new bedroom in their newly built house. 

“If you need to stick close to Cora tonight, don’t feel bad at all,” Derek murmured into Agie’s hair.

“Why would I need to?”

“This will be your first time sleeping with new people,” Derek pointed out, “I know that your wolf doesn’t look at Lydia or Allison as pack yet, so you might have trouble truly relaxing around them, but if you just focus on Cora, it should help.”

Agie nodded and took in a deep breath of their combined scents. She had slept in the same bed or same room with at least one of them every night for the past few weeks. And even though Derek spent most nights in his bedroom lately, it was just across the hall from the bedroom that Cora and Agie shared most nights, so Agie could hear his heartbeat and smell him if she focused on it.

Tonight, however, she was going on a sleepover. With two girls who were supposed to be part of her pack, and who her pack members considered to be pack. She had agreed because she loved and trusted the two of them, and if they trusted the rest of Scott’s pack, she would at least try to get them all fair chances. 

Agie nodded again and then pulled back to smile at Derek, “Okay. Stick close to Cora. Play nice with the girls. I can do this.”  
**

“Have fun at ur girls night!!”

Agie smiled at her phone as Cora drove. Her cousin always knew when she needed comfort, so she wasn’t at all surprised to see a text come in from him as Cora pulled up in front of Lydia’s house. 

“Thanks! Have fun at boy’s night!”

As much as Derek had been pushing Agie to bond with the girls in the pack, he had seemed reluctant to spend the night hanging out with Scott, Stiles, and Isaac. As much as Agie had started to love Derek over the past few months, she still sometimes couldn’t figure him out. He and Stiles had apparently been silently crushing on one another for months now, and even though they had both acknowledged their feelings for one another, Derek refused to make anything official until after Stiles turned eighteen. 

“Sure will!”

Agie took a deep breath and turned towards Cora, who was watching as Agie texted. She smiled sheepishly and said, “Thanks for being patient with me. I don’t even know why I’m so … reluctant. I know it’ll be fun.”

Cora grinned and got out of the car. Agie followed Cora up to the house, and Lydia pulled the door open just as they got the front stoop. She grinned widely at them as they walked up to the front door and she and Cora embraced. Agie stepped into the house hesitantly, but Lydia pulled Agie into a tight hug. Allison appeared next to Lydia just as she let Agie go and pulled her into a tight hug also. As she stepped back, she felt a knot in her back unwind and she couldn’t help but smile. Allison and Lydia had just demonstrated that they still know more about werewolves than she does—by hugging Cora first, they each smelled like pack and freshly like Cora, so Agie felt like she had just been enveloped by the whole pack, instead of intruded upon by two humans.

Feeling more comfortable than she had ever expected to, and just a minute after arriving, Agie followed the three girls into Lydia’s basement.

“The pack hangs out here on weekends sometimes, so I figured it was the best spot because it smells a little of each of us,” Lydia explained as they stopped in front of a large area. Lydia had tucked two air mattresses between two couches and threw on lots of pillows and blankets so that it looked more like a large nest than a bed. 

Cora dropped her bag at the foot of the nest/bed and jumped on, “This is so awesome!” 

Lydia smiled indulgently down at Cora while Allison grinned widely, “Let’s go back upstairs,” she said as she clapped her hands together, “I was thinking that we could do a little baking before coming down here to do our nails and watch movies?”

Cora jumped up with her wolf-speed, “What are we baking?”

“Oatmeal cookies?” Allison suggested as they began walking towards the stairs, “And we have chocolate chips and raisins. Or we could do something else?”

“Chocolate chip oatmeal cookies!” Cora cheered as she herded Agie up the stairs into the kitchen, “Right Agie?”

Agie nodded. She liked both types of cookies, and honestly didn’t have a preference when it came to what they should bake. 

Agie followed Cora up the stairs and paused for a second as she watched Lydia brush her hand against Allison’s lower back as they walked into the kitchen. She was constantly trying to readjust the way she looked at things—Agie knew that she and Cora and Derek touched more than was completely normal, but they only did it to as a pack thing—the constant touching reaffirmed the pack scent and made them each feel better. So, Agie knew that touch was a much more common thing in a wolf pack than it was for regular humans, but Allison and Lydia didn’t have any real reason to touch each other, since neither one of them is a wolf, neither one would feel the drive to stay close to pack. Agie shrugged and figured it was just something that they picked up from the other pack members over the past few months.  
The next few hours were spent laughing and baking and lazily cleaning. At one point, Lydia pulled out a blender and they started making smoothies—Lydia justified it by claiming that the fruit’s vitamins would balance out the excess calories from the cookies. Cora and Agie laughed—one Agie’s favorite things about being a werewolf (even though there were a lot of things she absolutely loved) was the increased metabolism.

Allison seemed surprised to see Agie laugh so loudly and grinned at her, “Maybe in the morning we can all go for a run?”

“Oh that’s what I love doing the morning after a sleepover,” Lydia said sarcastically, “going for an early morning run.”

“I figured Cora and Agie would like it,” Allison points out softly, “you know, for the whole bonding thing?”

Lydia quiets suddenly, as if surprised that Allison had pointed out that the girls were supposed to be bonding, almost like it was a secret, but then she turned back to Agie and Cora and grinned widely, “Agie, Stiles told me you’ve been whipping him into shape the past few weeks? If you don’t mind slowing down for me, I could definitely use the run.”

Agie wasn’t sure how to respond at first. She and Stiles had been going for runs almost every morning and Agie had really enjoyed it. She loved spending time with her cousin, and the opportunity to do something active was definitely good for him – he needed lots of different outlets for all of his energy otherwise he would be bouncing off the walls by mid-afternoon now that he had finished school and was on summer break. The first few times they had gone out, Stiles had to stop halfway through the run because he was so out of breath—after that Agie had slowed her pace down even more and Stiles had found his comfortable pace, and they had been enjoying running together. Afterwards, they would go back to Stiles’ house where they would each take showers and then cook breakfast together. 

“I don’t mind running slow—and Stiles said you do lots of kickboxing, so I’m sure you won’t be as slow as you think.”

Lydia nods promptly, as if that’s all it takes for the four girls to plan to go running tomorrow, and as Agie looks over at Cora with confusion, Cora smiles slightly and nods. Agie shrugs and figures she must have done something well, since Cora approves of it. 

Allison leans into Lydia and rubs her back, “Plus, whenever you come running with me you always keep up, so as long as Cora and Agie stick to human speeds, we should both be fine.”  
Lydia smiles up at Allison and nods, “Perfect. So Cora, I hear that you’ve been on not one, but two dates with the same guy?”

Agie feels like she just got whiplash from the sudden change in conversation, but Cora just grins and shrugs, “Yea. This guy Toby. He’s pretty cool. And super hot.”

“How hot?” Lydia asks as she leans forward with her elbow on her knee propping up her face.

Cora tilts her head to the side as if considering, “Aiden’s shoulders, Scott’s charm, Isaac’s adorable hair, and Stiles’ sense of humor.”

Allison and Lydia both nod in approval, “He actually sounds kind of perfect,” Allison says, “are you sure he’s real?”

“He’s real, I promise,” Agie says, “I’ve had to smell him both times they went out.”

“Yea, well, how do you think I felt when you were still with what’s-his-name back in LA?” Cora replied with a grin. “Our sense of smell is super helpful sometimes, but other times it’s just a pain in the ass, particularly when it comes to personal space.”

Lydia laughs, “And that is one reason why I’m perfectly fine being human. I just wish that the smell thing went both ways for us—I don’t want to know your business, but I don’t want you knowing mine either.”

“Well, it’s not like we want to know everyone you come in contact with,” Cora points out, “It’s just that we can’t help it. Although for the most part, we’d have to look for it. Agie and I are just so close all the time that we can tell instantly if our scent is different. If you were with someone, I wouldn’t be able to tell right away—only if you had literally just been with them.”

Lydia and Allison glanced at each other, “Well that’s a relief,” Allison laughed out.

“So,” Lydia announced with a clap, “If we’re going for a run in the morning, we should probably get at least a few hours of sleep, right?”

The girls all agree and head into the basement to get ready for sleep. Once they get situated in the big bed, Cora slips an arm around Agie’s middle, “See? Not so bad.”

Agie nods and then falls asleep. 

**

 

Agie has to admit she’s seriously impressed by Allison. They had been running for half an hour now, and she’s only slightly sweating and not at all out of breath. Lydia had started to show signs of strain about five minutes ago, so Cora had volunteered to take a break with her. Agie had been glad to run ahead, and Allison had seemed excited to continue as well. 

After another fifteen minutes, Allison slowed to a walk and Agie followed her. “We probably shouldn’t go too far from them,” Allison pointed out.

Agie grinned and stretched her arms over her head and then again behind her back. She loved feeling the burn in her muscles from a good run, and Allison was able to run a lot faster than Stiles. 

“Why are you in such good shape?”

Allison grinned and looked up from her hamstring stretch, “Scott told you about my family being hunters?” 

Agie nodded. That had been hard for her to take, at first. Knowing that Allison’s family made a tradition out of murdering werewolves like Agie made Agie really hesitant about being in the same pack as that kind of person. 

Allison continued, “I didn’t realize it, but my parents had me on a really strict training regimen, and after my mom died, I just decided to keep up with it. We used to go running together every morning. A lot of times I go by myself. Sometimes my dad comes with me, and sometimes Lydia does.”

“If you want,” Agie offers, “you could come running with Stiles and me sometimes.”

Allison grins widely, “That would be great!”

“So, you ready to head back?”

“Yea, Lydia is probably getting impatient now.”


	3. Chapter 3

Sonia waved to CJ and Dayita as they left to go food shopping. CJ had promised Dayita they could stop by a playground first, which left Sonia the perfect amount of time to get everything done. 

Once the minivan pulled out of the driveway, Sonia went back to the kitchen to gather her first supplies. She had prepared a dozen small bags of mountain ash packed inside two separate ziplock bags. Sonia flipped the radio on and sang along with the top 40s as she placed the each bag in a different room. She made sure that each bag was subtly hidden, when they had been shopping for decorations, Sonia had made sure to purchase several different potpourri holders, and instead of putting scented potpourri in them, she hid the mountain ash satchels in them. 

Once she had finished placing the mountain ash throughout the house, she set the last few around the outdoor space: one by each of the entrances to the house and one in the garage. 

Satisfied that she had enough mountain ash planted around the house that she could easily access it in an emergency if she needed to, she went back into the house. She paused in front of a mirror and patted at her plait of thick black hair. Every once in a while she idly thought about cutting it short like it had been in high school, but ultimately she always decides to keep it long. It was just easier sometimes to tie it back in a braid, and she liked how it looked flowing down her back when she let it flow free.

Her next goal was harder than simply placing supplies throughout the house, so she sat down in the center of the living room to meditate before beginning. Once she felt centered enough, she rose fluidly and walked to the front door. She placed her palms flat against the wood and inhaled deeply. As she exhaled, she focused all of her energy on her intense desire to protect her daughter and husband. Sonia’s protection spells had always been her strongest spells, but ever since Dayita was born, Sonia had found her protection spells doubling or tripling in potency—nothing she had ever encountered in life rivalled the deep need she felt to protect Dayita. 

Sonia concentrated her energy on her desire to create a safe haven for Dayita and CJ and pictured an invisible barrier surrounding the house, centering at the front door. She twisted her hands as she slowly removed them from the door, separating herself from the magic barrier she had just created. Now, only CJ, Dayita, and herself would be able to freely enter the house. In order for anyone else to come in, Sonia would have to manually allow them through the barrier. CJ had happily agreed to the magical limitation because it was the only foolproof way to guarantee that no intruder could come into their house.


	4. Chapter 4

Agie grinned as she walked into Stiles’ house; she had been looking forward to their new tradition of weekly family dinner. Once a week since she had moved up to Beacon Hills, Uncle John hosted a family dinner for her and Stiles, and had insisted that Derek and Cora come too. Derek was still a little hesitant around Uncle John, but Agie was chocking that up to the fact that he was sort-of-but-kind-of-not-really Stiles, and Stiles’ dad had once arrested him. 

Agie had promised Stiles that she would come over early to help him cook today because he had been trying out different family recipes each week. When Stiles’ mom had died, she had left all of her recipes with Stiles, and he had tried out a lot of them over the years, but since it was mostly just him and his dad, he mostly stuck to the same few dishes on rotation. He figured though, if they were going to be having bigger family dinners once a week, they might as well practice their traditional family recipes more. Agie had all of the same recipes, and she had cooked more of them, her mom had insisted that Agie start learning when she turned fourteen, and she had spent the next three years learning how to cook all different kinds of traditional Polish dishes, before her mom had passed away. 

Stiles looked up from his computer when Agie walked into the kitchen and smiled. “So, I picked up the groceries you texted me about,” she said, “are you ready to get started?”  
“Yea, and I made the perfect playlist,” Stiles said as he bounced up and pressed play on Spotify. 

Agie grinned and started pulling the potatoes and cabbages that she had picked up on her way over. As she set about to get ready to cook, Stiles proceeded to describe how he had chosen each song on the playlist and what each song represented. 

After a few minutes of monologuing about music, Agie bumped her hip into Stiles to get him to move towards the stove, “You can cook and talk, right?”

Stiles stuck his tongue out at her, but nodded and picked up the spoon Agie had placed next to the pot. “So how did the sleepover go?”

“It was fun,” Agie replied, “We actually went for a run this morning. And I invited Allison to run with us, sometimes, in the mornings.”

Stiles nodded, “She’ll probably love that. I know Lydia jogs with her sometimes, but she doesn’t love it, and really only does it when Allison begs her to.”

“It could be fun,” Agie admits, “Plus I really did have fun running with her. I kind of forgot she wasn’t a werewolf for a few minutes. She just… felt like pack.”

“Yes!” Stiles exclaimed as he threw his arms up. Agie rushed to put his arms back down so he wouldn’t splash any more sauce across the kitchen. He smiled as he continued, “I’m so glad the bonding worked! At least with Allison, She’s great and honestly just the sweetest person in the whole world. And you and Lydia will bond. Eventually. I promise.”

“And how did your boy’s night go?”

Stiles shrugged, “We played video games and ate way too much pizza.”

“And? How’s Derek?”

“God, I don’t know,” Stiles sighs irritably, “I know he likes me back, but damn, that just makes this all so much more frustrating because, I swear, he uses his magical werewolf powers to avoid being alone with me, but then whenever we’re with other people, he’s practically glued to my side. I seriously couldn’t move at any point last night without bumping into him, but then if I actually tried to touch him, he vanishes.”

Agie laughs, “I honestly think he just doesn’t want to push you into anything. And since you’re still 17… and he’s older. He doesn’t want you to feel pressured or anything.”

“Pressured into what? He’s like a weird shadow that’s always near me but I can’t ever touch and he won’t let me talk to him about anything at all related to a relationship. He literally jumped out of his own car the other day when I tried.”

“He what?”

“Jumped out of his own car!” Stiles said with a flail of his hands, “He said he thought he smelled another werewolf and did this crazy park on the side of the road and jumped out. And then when I finally convinced him to get back into the car because he looked like a crazy person walking up and down this regular residential block trying to smell something, when we finally got back into the car he made me call Scott and describe the whole thing and that was it. The only alone time we’ve had since you guys all got back and nothing.”

Agie rubbed his back, “Just give him time, okay? He’s doing a lot better than he was, but still, he went through so much shit in the past few years, I’m honestly surprised he’s as well adjusted as he is.”

“I know, I know. I just wish he would talk to me,” Stiles says.

The next hour or so went by easily, as the two cousins chatted about everything from the pack to recent episodes of reality tv. Uncle John came home from work and hugged both teenagers as they were cooking and then promptly went upstairs to shower and change. Agie missed her dad, but even when they lived together, he was always out on his truck routes and they usually only got to spend quality time together every other week at the most. Now, since Agie moved to Beacon Hills a few weeks ago, she’s seen her dad every week because his truck route is so close. Sometimes they only have lunch or dinner, but it’s still nice to see him. And Agie loves living so close to Uncle John because she gets to see him and Stiles almost every day. 

While Uncle John is upstairs getting changed, Derek and Cora arrive, carrying soda and a cherry pie that Derek had baked. Stiles mumbles something about taking his cherry pie that Agie can’t even hear with her heightened hearing, but she and Cora laugh anyway. Agie swears that she can see a slight blush along Derek’s cheekbones as he pushes past them to put his pie in the fridge. 

Cora and Derek help Stiles set the table as Agie puts the finishing touches on the meal and Uncle John comes down just as the food goes on the table. He hugs Cora and shakes Derek’s hand as they all gather around the table and sit down. 

“So how was everyone’s night?” Uncle John asks as he passes plates around to everyone.

“I actually had a nice night,” Agie admits.

“And Agie invited Allison to go running with us in the mornings,” Stiles added.

“That’s good,” Uncle John nodded, “Allison is a good kid. I’m still a little …reluctant about her dad, but she’s a good kid.”

“Chris has actually been really helpful,” Derek says, “He’s been helping us set up security systems for the house.”

“And you trust him?”

Derek pauses before responding, “I do. He said that Allison has more than proved that she plans to be part of the pack, and that we have all demonstrated that we can work together, and that we’re good people. He said his number one goal is protecting Allison, since she’s the only family he has left, and since Allison is part of our pack, he wants to do his best to assure that we’re all safe too.”

“That actually makes sense. Protecting family is one of the truest motivators I’ve ever seen.”

Agie nodded and smiled down at her food. She was sitting at a table with two of the three remaining members of her family, and with Cora and Derek, two of the people she now considered family. She knew it was a little untraditional, but she hadn’t been this happy since before her mom had died.

“So everyone’s coming to the BBQ tomorrow, right?” Uncle John asks.

“Of course,” Cora says enthusiastically, “Stiles said there’s always a pie contest and that sounds like the greatest thing ever.”

Uncle John laughs, “It isn’t official, it’s just a few of the women who always make pies and they have this little competition each year.”

 

Agie notices Derek staring down at his food as he eats and makes eye contact with Stiles to bring his attention to Derek.

“Hey dude, you’re totally not allowed to bail last minute, by the way,” Stiles says jokingly and elbows Derek’s arm.

Derek stares down wide-eyed at his arm before looking up at Stiles and then Uncle John, “I just think it will be really awkward going to the annual police department BBQ, when I’ve been arrested here twice.”

“Son, I told you not to worry about that. Your record shows that you were innocent both times. Nobody will hold that against you.”

Derek shifts in his seat and Agie can practically feel the discomfort rolling off of him, “I’m just not so sure, Mr. Stilinski.”

“Derek, how many times do I have to tell you to call me John? And I was hoping you would come so that you would feel more comfortable around the department. I’m still hoping that you’ll take up my offer to apply as a deputy.”

“A deputy?” Cora asks, “Derek you never mentioned that John offered you a job!”

“It wasn’t an offer … so much as a suggestion,” Derek replies evasively.

“Then let me be more clear,” John says while leaning forward on the table, “I’m offering you a job as a deputy. But I can’t show blatant nepotism, so you need to actually apply of your own volition. And you’re qualified for the position, so I wouldn’t even need to pull any strings or anything. Plus I want someone new on the force that I can trust to help with any suspicious cases, and who will have outside knowledge about all of this werewolf stuff that goes on.”

“Derek, I really think it would be perfect for you, you used to always say you wanted to be a police officer when you were younger,” Cora points out.

“Yea, and I also wanted to be an astronaut,” Derek retorts then turns back to face Uncle John, “but… I’ll think about it.”

“Well that’s all I can really ask for.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you'd like to read that scene where Derek jumps out of the car to avoid talking with Stiles, here it is:
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/15826659/chapters/36847890


	5. Chapter 5

“Sonia, I am so excited! This is so perfect because we’ll get to meet so many people and hopefully make some friends.”

“Will there be any kids there?” Dayita asked as she swung her arms back and forth where they were joined with each of her parents’. 

“I don’t know, maybe there will be, mishti, but you have to stick close to Mommy or Daddy until we say it’s okay to go off and play, okay?

“Okay Mommy,” Dayita replied, “Can you swing me?”

Sonia grinned and counted, “One, two, three, go!” as she and CJ swung their daughter forward as they walked along the sidewalk. Dayita squealed with glee and an older couple smiled at them as they walked towards the park.

As they neared the BBQ spot, Sonia slowed down, pulling Dayita, and in turn CJ to a halt next to her. 

“What’s up, babe?” CJ asked.

Sonia shook her head as if to clear it, “I don’t know. I feel… something. Like… fog. I don’t really know how to explain it.”

“Do you want to go home?” 

Sonia grinned up at her husband. She loved how selfless he was, because as excited as he was to meet new people and get to know the people he would be working with at the police station, he was still willing to leave in order to avoid any discomfort for her. “No, it’s fine. It’s probably nothing significant. It’s just a weird feeling.”

“You sure?”

“Yea. Let’s go.”

They kept walking and as they got close to the gathering of people, an older man in jeans and a t-shirt turned away from the two men he was talking to and stepped towards them and held out his hand, “CJ- I’m so glad you made it! This must be Sonia and little Dayita?”

“Yes, and this is Sheriff Stilinski,” CJ replied as he shook the Sheriff’s hand. 

“Please, call me John. I’m John when I’m off duty.”

Sonia took the Sheriff’s extended hand and shook it as well, “Well, John it’s nice to meet you. We didn’t mean to take you away from your friends.”

John turned back around towards the two men who he had been talking to and gestured for them to join them. As they stepped closer, Sonia felt CJ tense up immediately next to her, and she saw the bearded man’s grin turn into a scowl as he stepped up next to John. “This is my son Stiles,” John introduced, “and Derek, who is going to be a new deputy as well. CJ you’ll be going through training with him and…” John trailed off as he realized that the two men were glaring tensely at each other. “Um… what am I missing?”

Derek shakes his head quickly, “I just didn’t realize there was another deputy just like me.” He placed enough emphasis on the last few words that he was clearly trying to communicate something to the Sheriff without being too obvious. Sonia could only assume that the bearded man was a werewolf as well as CJ, and that the Sheriff knew. 

“Like you?” The Sheriff asked. Sonia shrugged—maybe he didn’t know.

“Wait – you mean—like you-like you?” The younger man, Stiles, asked in a hoarse whisper. As Sonia looked at the Sheriff’s son, she reconsidered her original estimate of his age- at first she had thought he was in his 20s, but up close he looked more like a teenager.

Derek nodded tersely. 

“Hold on one minute,” the Sheriff whispered just as hoarsely as his son, while holding his hands out between CJ and Derek, “Are you telling me that he’s a werewolf too?”

CJ and Derek both nodded tersely.

“Oh. Shit.” The Sheriff dropped his arms to his side and sighed.

“Yea,” CJ said warily. “Look, we didn’t realize there was a pack here. I can find a different job. We’ll keep to ourselves.” He looked at Sonia and Dayita and added quietly, “It’s just the three of us.”

Derek’s eyes softened instantly and he looked across to Stiles, who instantly stepped forward, “Look, I’m sure we can work something out. Right?” He looked back to Derek, who nodded slowly. “We’ll talk to Scott, but as long as you are chill…”

“As long as you don’t pose a threat to your pack, we have no problem with sharing our territory,” Derek interrupted. “My family has been living here for decades, and we’ve shared the town before.”

CJ glanced back at Sonia, “Decades? That can’t be right. We only came here because we heard that the Hale family had died out and that the land was unclaimed.”

Derek clenched his jaw and Stiles rubbed at his brow as Derek gritted out, “Not all of the Hales died.”

“Oh,” CJ said softly, “Oh. We didn’t realize.”

“How do you know about that?” Stiles asked quietly, “Did you know Derek’s family?”

CJ shakes his head and Sonia replies, “We’re from Texas. Our pack, our… former pack, they had been there for decades also. They knew the Hales. I don’t think they kept in contact much… but CJ’s grandfather used to be friends with one of them.”

“Texas?” Derek asked, “The Miller pack?”

CJ nodded shortly. Sonia sighed because CJ hated talking about his family. Although Derek might feel similarly is he was one of the last remaining members of his family.

“I haven’t heard any news out of Texas recently.”

“We left Texas almost three years ago,” CJ says evasively. They had left in the middle of the night not long after Dayita was born. Sonia had hoped that they would be safe there, that they would be able to raise their daughter in a loving, large pack. But unfortunately that had not been a realistic option for them.  


Derek nods. If he noticed that CJ was intentionally omitting information, he apparently wasn’t going to call him out on it now. 

“So what brought you to Beacon Hills,” Sheriff Stilinski asks, “other than the fact that you thought it was… unoccupied.”

Sonia shrugs and offers a small smile, “We were drawn here. Can’t really explain why. But it seemed like a safe place to settle down and start a home.”

Stiles face had gone slack when Sonia had started talking, and he opened his mouth to say something when a snarl sounded behind him.


	6. Chapter 6

Agie arrived at the BBQ with Cora and got out of the car as she saw Scott and Isaac pull up and park their motorcycles nearby. She smiled and stepped into Scott’s arms as he greeted her. It still felt a little bit weird—she had known Scott since he became friends with Stiles when they were in kindergarten—and now he was her Alpha. It felt a little weird, but her wolf recognized him and enjoyed his strength and presence. 

Isaac grinned and pulled her into a hug after Scott had let her go. Isaac smelled good- like soap and cinnamon and candle smoke—and Agie also had to admit that he was pretty nice on the eyes. But he was younger than her, and she was pretty sure he had something for Cora, even though she didn’t seem to return his interest. It was still nice though, because below everything else, he smelled like pack. 

Scott and Cora start talking about their plans for the summer while Isaac shifts so that he has one arm over her shoulders and they’re all facing each other. Agie nestles in under his arm—she’s not really sure how being a werewolf changes things, but she seems to crave the touch of her pack almost all the time, so whether or not Isaac is interested in Cora or her or just likes being physically close, she’s happy. 

As Scott and Cora’s conversation lulls, Agie decides to ask a question that had been growing in the back of her mind, “So how long have Lydia and Allison been together?”

Scott looks at her with confusion, but Cora and Isaac shrug. 

“Not really sure,” Isaac replies, “but at least a few weeks.”

“Wait, what? Really?” Scott asks.

“Yea, but they haven’t come out to us yet, so we’re just trying to give them space until they’re ready,” Cora adds.

“Wait… really?” Scott asks again.

“Dude, they aren’t really even that subtle about it. And they smell like each other all the time.” Isaac adds.

“But… I just thought the hung out a lot, like we do.”

Isaac shrugs again, “I don’t know what to tell you, Scott. Just be cool about it, okay?”

Scott looks down for a minute, before smiling back up at them, “I had pretty much realized that Allison and I weren’t going to get back together. I’m just glad she’s happy… she’s happy, right?”

Cora grins and elbows him in the ribs, “Of course, dumb-ass. Do you really think that Lydia would make her unhappy?”

Scott grins ruefully, “Yea, I guess not. Lydia’s pretty great, so I guess I’m okay with it.”

“Oh, hey, look, there’s Derek and Stiles,” Agie points out across the gathering, “I’m going to go say hi.”

“Awesome,” Cora says, “I’m going to go over to that giant grill and load a plate up with meat. Boys, you coming?”

“Hell yes,” Isaac replies. “Agie, you want me to get you some?”

She grins up at him, and thinks, maybe he isn’t into Cora, “Awesome, yes, please.”

Agie grins at Cora as she steps out from under Isaac’s arm and heads towards Derek and Stiles. As she gets closer, however, she realizes that they’re talking to some new people. Just as she notices the new people, the wind shifts, and she catches the smell of a werewolf.

A new werewolf. 

A non-pack werewolf. 

A threat.

Agie is barely aware of her shift, and doesn’t notice anything other than her overwhelming desire to protect her pack from this new threat until all of a sudden Derek is there. He grabs hold of her and pulls her face into his neck and growls out, “Agie. Agie you need to calm down. Get control of yourself. Come on, honey, take a deep breath and calm down.”

He keeps talking into Agie’s ear as he drags her back towards Cora and the pack, and within a minute she feels Cora’s arms wrap around her as well, and they’re quickly followed by Scott and Isaac’s comforting presence as well. She breathes deeply and feels her wolf receding as she’s surrounded by most of her pack members. 

Once she is able to open her eyes with the confidence that they won’t be glowing, she pulls back a little and takes a deep breath. 

Derek is still holding her close, looking down at her with concern, “You okay, Ags?”

She nods slowly, “Yea, I don’t know what—“she starts, but then pauses as she hears Stiles gasp from across the field. She would normally have trouble picking out his distinct voice from such a large gathering of people, but she must have been so hyper focused on each member of her pack that she was able to hear his distress from so far away.

Derek glanced across the gathering and then back at Agie and Cora, “I have to…”

“Go, we’re fine,” Cora said.

“I’m good, don’t worry,” Agie added instantly.

Without turning back, Derek hurried off toward Stiles.

Scott and Isaac instantly stepped into the space Derek had left. Agie reaches out and pulls them both in and buries her face in their chests. After a minute she leans back, “There was a werewolf.”

Scott nods, “Yea, but Derek is there. You know he’ll do anything to protect Stiles. And he hasn’t called for help or anything, so don’t worry about it.”

Agie feels unsure about that—her last encounter with a werewolf had ended very poorly, and while she had only met werewolves from the pack of the crazy Alpha who had bit her and then tried to kill her, she logically knew that there were other, less violent, werewolves out there. She just hadn’t met any yet. 

Scott pulls out his cell phone and shows Agie the dial screen as he calls Stiles. 

Stiles voice sounds tiny through Scott’s speakers, “Hey dude, I’m fine. We’re fine. Don’t worry,” he says as soon as he picks up.

“You’re good? You sure?” Scott asks easily.

“Yea, we’re just … dealing with something. But Derek’s here to protect me. How’s Agie?”

“She’s fine. Just keep us updated with whatever you’re dealing with, okay?”

“Of course, dude.”

Scott smiles down at Agie as he finishes talking to Stiles, “Why don’t we head home? I think we’ve had enough excitement for now, right?”

Agie nodded weakly and leaned on Cora as they stood up and began walking towards the car. As the group got to the parking lot, Scott turned back to Isaac, “Would you just make sure they’re okay?” He asked softly, “Just make sure they’re not being too obvious or anything? You know Stiles can be a bit oblivious is he’s preoccupied, and Derek doesn’t always care about what other people might be noticing.”

Isaac nodded and doubled back towards the other end of the gathering. Agie and Cora climbed into the car and Scott followed them as they drove back towards Cora and Agie’s house.


	7. Chapter 7

Sonia reached down and grabbed Dayita’s hand as a half-shifted werewolf came sprinting towards them. She had a barrier spell thrown around them instantly and watched with wide eyes as Derek spun and launched himself at the half-shifted werewolf. He grabbed her and shoved her face into the crook of his neck and started to drag her away from them while talking steadily into the girl’s ear. 

Sonia loosened her grip on Dayita as she heard the girl whimper softly next to her, “Mommy, why was she so angry?”

“Shhh, mishti, don’t worry about her.”

Stiles glanced back at them, visibly shaken. He opened his mouth and closed it several times, as if at a loss for words. 

“Stiles, I thought you said that Agie was under control!” The Sheriff said shortly as he grabbed Stiles’ by the upper arm. 

“She is! Or… that’s what they told me. I’ve never seen her lose control like that!”

“Agie is… one of your pack?” CJ asked. It was sometimes hard to tell age when a Beta was half-shifted, but she had definitely at least been at adolescent. It was irregular for a Beta that old to have such poor control, and she definitely should not have been allowed to attend a large gathering if she had trouble controlling herself.

“She is,” Stiles replied absently, “but she was bitten by a rogue Alpha just a few months ago.”

Sheriff Stilinski’s attention was drawn away when people began asking him about the commotion, and he let go of Stiles’ arm and turned away to answer their questions. As Stiles’ arm fell down, his hand brushed against Sonia’s forearm and she jumped back as if she had been burnt.

Stiles pulled his arm back as if he had felt the electric shock as well and he stared at their skin in shock. Sonia couldn’t believe the amount of energy that had jumped between them when their skin touched. She couldn’t help herself when she reached out and slowly reached out and grabbed hold of Stiles’ hand. The surge of electricity between them was overwhelming and she felt her eyes fall shut for a second as she tried to control the overpowering flow of magic ebbing out of Stiles. 

She was interrupted by Stiles’ exclamation, “What the hell?”

Derek appeared by Stiles’ side almost as soon as he spoke and was looking at Sonia with a mixture of confusion and distrust.

“How on earth do you have that much magic flowing through you?” Sonia couldn’t keep the wonder out of her voice. She knew that she was a powerful witch, but the amount of uncontrolled magic flowing through Stiles’ veins had surpassed even her of body of magic. 

“What?” Stiles asked as his mouth fell open in shock.

“Stiles doesn’t have magic,” Derek frowned. 

“He sure as hell does,” Sonia insisted, “more than I’ve ever felt before. And it’s completely uncontrolled. How the hell have you not lost control yet?”

“…what?” Stiles repeats.

“You,” Sonia said slowly as she pointed at his chest, “have magic. And you need to learn how to control it. Otherwise you will lose control. And you will hurt people. Or lose your mind. Or both.”

“Son, what is she talking about?”

“Dad, I swear to God I have no freaking idea.”

“Stiles…”

“Dad! Seriously! I’ve literally spent the last few weeks explaining everything supernatural! Do you really think I’d just forget to mention something so freaking crazy, like, ‘I’m Harry Potter’?”

Derek cross his arms and faced Sonia, “Stiles doesn’t have magic.”

“Yea, you’ve already said that,” she said crossly. “How are you so sure?”

“The former emissary would have told us. He said Stiles had a Spark, and that he would train Stiles to be our emissary, but he didn’t mention anything about full magic.”

“You have an emissary? I real emissary and he just lets Stiles walk around like this?”

The Sheriff stepped in close to the group, “What do you mean ‘like this’?”

“He’s a danger to everyone around him-he’s pretty much a ticking time bomb with all of this magic just seeping out of him!”

“I am not a bomb!” Stiles exclaims loudly.

Sonia feels CJ stiffen next to her again, and she looks up to see a tall curly-haired teenager standing a few feet off. Derek nods to him and gestures him closer, “This is Isaac, another of our pack. Isaac, CJ, Sonia and their daughter. They’re new to Beacon Hills. And CJ is going to be a new Deputy for John.”

Isaac nods at them, “So… Scott wanted me to make sure you guys weren’t being weird or whatever, and I get that the news that Stiles might actually be magical or whatnot is definitely surprising, but you guys do realize that we’re at a party and you’re all huddled close together and practically shouting at each other. So far as subtle goes… you’re failing pretty miserably.”

Sheriff Stilinski looks around suddenly, and seems to realize that they do look suspicious standing so close together and talking fervently. “Okay. I’m going to go mingle. The rest of you… I don’t know,” he says, throwing his hands up in the air, “just let me know what’s going on.”

“I’m going to go back to Agie,” Isaac says. “Derek, we’re going to your house.”

Derek nods, “We’ll meet up with you later. Call Allison and Lydia too?”

Isaac nods and turns to go, but turns back at the last second, “It was… nice… meeting you.”

CJ and Sonia both nod at him and watch as he walks quickly back where he came from. Sonia has to wonder about this pack for a minute, and the age of all of the people she had seen so far. The Sheriff was clearly a human, and from everything she could gather, he was fairly knew to the whole supernatural world. Since his son didn’t even know about his own magic, that did make a fair bit of sense. And while Derek seemed to be in his 20s, both Stiles and Isaac looked like they were still in high school, and the out-of-control Beta, Agie, had also looked pretty young. CJ’s pack had several teenagers in it, but it was a particularly large pack. For there to be a pack with this many teenagers, it would either need to be a large pack, or one consisting solely of teenagers. And that wouldn’t make any sense. The pack must just be larger than they had realized. Sonia shrugged and filed it away in her mind to figure out later. 

Sonia looks back at Stiles and Derek, “We can keep talking, somewhere else, if you want.”

Stiles nods fervently, “Yea. Yea, you need to explain more, because I understand your words, I just don’t get how I could have magic. It just doesn’t make sense.”

Dayita tugs at her hand, “Mommy, I’m hungry. And I have to go bathroom.”

Sonia looks down at Dayita and then up at CJ, “Would you take her?”

“You sure?” he asks with concern.

Sonia grins back up at him, “I promise.” He nods, so Sonia kneels down next to her daughter, “Mishti, Daddy is going to take you to the bathroom, and then to eat some food. And if you eat all your lunch, I bet that he’ll even take you to that playground over there.”

Dayita squealed with excitement, “Really Daddy?”

“Yes, but only if you eat everything on your plate,” he replied as he picked her up and set her on his hip.

“Okay… but no green beans.”

Sonia heard CJ laugh as he walked off. She turned back to Stiles and Derek, who were looking at her with surprise again. 

“Your husband trusts you with us… even though we just met?” Derek asks.

“He knows that I’m capable of taking care of myself. He also knows, that if it came down to a fight, I would be better off if I didn’t have to worry about protecting Dayita and him.”

“But,” Stiles started, paused, and then continued, “but he’s the werewolf.”

Sonia grinned up at Stiles wolfishly, “Do you really think that werewolves are the most powerful thing out there?”


	8. Chapter 8

Agie walks into their house and collapses onto the living room couch. Cora follows close behind and sits cross-legged next to her, pulling a pillow onto her lap. Scott comes in less than a minute later and heads into the kitchen, but soon returns with a few water bottles and cans of soda from the fridge. 

“So what happened?” Scott asks as he hands Agie a water bottle, “You have been so good about your control so far.”

Agie shrugs, “I’m not really sure. It’s been kind of weird up here, and I haven’t been in such a big crowd since my graduation.”

“Yea, but you knew pretty much everyone at your graduation,” Cora points out as she opens a can of soda, “almost everyone at the BBQ today was a stranger.”

“You think that makes a difference?”

“Definitely,” Scott says, “Think about it: at your graduation you would have been surrounded by people that you had known for years, and even though you were still new at being a werewolf, you knew those people. So your wolf just accepted that none of them were a threat.”

“Plus,” Cora added, “Derek and Stiles and John were there.”

Agie nodded, “That does make some sense. I guess I didn’t think about how a crowd of strangers would be different… or more threatening than a crowd of people that I knew.” She pauses as she hears Isaac’s motorcycle pull into the driveway. “I also think just being here in Beacon Hills makes it harder for me.”

“What do you mean?” Scott asks.

“I don’t know. Everything in LA seemed so much easier—but here, it’s like I need to actually put in an effort to stay in control sometimes.”

“No, you’re right,” Cora agrees, and nods at Isaac as he comes in and joins them on the couch, “Whenever I’ve moved to a new place, it always takes a while to adjust to the new surroundings and people and things. Your wolf just doesn’t truly consider this home yet. You’re still assessing everything.”

“But I do feel like it is home,” Agie insists.

“There’s a difference between you thinking it is home,” Isaac points out as he shifts and pulls Agie so she’s leaning against him, “and your wolf accepting that it is home also.”

Agie shifted so her head was resting against Isaac’s shoulder and fell quiet. She hadn’t thought about her mind and her wolf as two separate entities before – when she had first been bit she had reached out to Stiles, and he had instantly called Derek, who just happened to be in LA with Cora. The two of them had gone to check in on Agie that night, and they had been pretty much inseparable ever since. Derek and Cora had been born werewolves, so they treated things much differently than Scott and Isaac did, because they had both been bitten within the past two years, so in a way, they were still adjusting to being werewolves themselves. 

But it did actually make some sense—like how sometimes she wanted to wash the smell of Cora’s dates off of her, even when she knew that was insane. Or that time she had wanted to growl at the woman who bumped into Stiles at the grocery store—she could rationally admit that it was a mistake, but she had still felt the urge to protect Stiles. So sometimes her wolf wanted her to act on her base urges and desires, while her more rational side was able to think things out. 

“So it’s just like we have a super duper pronounced Id?”

“What?” Cora asked.

“You know… everyone has an Id and an Ego? Your Ego is the rational part of your brain that is capable of thinking and planning, and the Id is just your crazy urges and desires and things,” Agie explains. “Didn’t you learn about that in ELA or something?”  
“Yea, so I’ve gone to, like, four different high schools, and I was studying to take the GED for a while there. I know I’ve covered all of the main points… but there might have been a few things I skipped,” Cora explains with a shrug.

“So you’re feeling better now, right?” Isaac asks as he rubs Agie’s arm. 

“A lot,” Agie responds, “I think the crowd probably just made me uneasy… I probably would have still been fine, but then I got close to that other werewolf and I just lost it.”

“That reminds me,” Scott says as he pulls out his phone and starts texting. After a minute, he seems satisfied and places his phone on the table.

“Why do you think there was another werewolf at the BBQ?” Cora asks as she sets her soda on the coffee table and cuddles in close to Agie.

“Oh,” Isaac says, as if just remembering, “Derek said they were new to town and the werewolf, his name is CJ, is going to be a new deputy also.”

“And you didn’t think to mention that?” Cora says, sitting up so that she can stare at him.

Isaac shrugs, “I was worried about Agie. I wanted to make sure that everything was ok. Plus, it’s not like it was such vital information that you needed to know immediately.” He pauses suddenly and looks uncomfortable, “Okay, so… actually, I probably should have told you when I first got here…”

“What?” Scott asks uneasily.

“Apparently Stiles is magic, or has magic? And he’s dangerous and a time bomb or something?”

Scott stares at Isaac for a solid minute before picking his cell phone up and dialing. When Stiles doesn’t pick up, he immediately turns and dials Derek. He picks up on the second ring. 

“Hey,” Derek says quietly.

“Dude, Isaac’s telling me that Stiles has magic?”

“Apparently,” Derek replies evenly, “This woman, Sonia, she’s been explaining everything. We’re at Stiles’ house. It seems… legit. I think she’s telling the truth.”

“But… magic? Why didn’t Deaton say something?”

“I don’t know, but I would definitely like to ask him.”

“I’m working tomorrow morning, but if you want I’ll call him right now.”

“No, don’t worry. I want to go back to talking with Sonia, but I’ll come by with Stiles when we’re done. How’s Agie?”

“She’s fine,” Scott replies, “We’re just relaxing now.” 

“Good,” Derek replies, “I’ll text you when we’re done here.”

As Scott hangs up and puts his phone down, Allison and Lydia walk in the front door. They both rush over and hug Agie. Scott pulls the love seat close so that they can sit and all six of them put the feet up on the coffee table and Cora explains what happened at the BBQ. Within a few minutes Lydia bursts into this long, detailed story about some dramatic event at her nail salon, and before Agie even knows it she’s laughing hysterically and has completely forgotten about losing control and the other werewolf.


	9. Chapter 9

Sonia looked up at the house as she stepped out of her car; Stiles and Derek climbed out and looked at each other as she came around the car to stand on the curb next to them. “Are you sure you’re comfortable with me coming to your house?”

Stiles nodded, “Yea, I mean, I don’t care, and it’s better this way, because my dad has people over from work sometimes, so my house doesn’t ever just smell like pack. There’s always smells of other people. Or so everyone tells me. So… this is the best neutral ground, yea?”

Derek nods silently and starts walking towards the front door. He stops next to it and waits as Stiles unlocks the door and ushers them in. He heads straight to the kitchen and talks as he’s walking, “I hope you guys don’t mind if I eat because I’m starving because I didn’t get a chance to eat at the BBQ and we have plenty of food so you can eat too if you want any. There are leftovers and if you don’t want any of those I could cook something, or we just have chips or snacks or something but if--”

“What is wrong with you?” Derek asks abruptly, “You haven’t talked this much nonstop … ever.”

Stiles scowls at him, “I’m just nervous, shut up. You try dealing with finding out you suddenly have magic.”

Sonia smiles softly at the two of them—she wasn’t sure of their relationship at first, they’re definitely not related, but there seems to be a closeness between them, and they seem to gravitate towards each other, whether consciously or unconsciously, Sonia couldn’t figure out yet. 

“So is it rude if I ask you to prove that you have magic?” Stiles says as he turns his attention towards Sonia, “I don’t mean to be rude, but I’ve literally never seen anything before in my life and I’m kind of having a hard time believing it’s real.”

Sonia’s small grin turned into a wide smile, “Don’t worry. It’s completely normal to have a hard time believing.” She held her hand out in front of her and spread her palm face up. She willed up the heat of the fires she had stared at so many starry nights in Texas and watched as flames burst out along her extended hand, rolling around her fingers, but never touching or burning her skin.

Stiles gasped and jumped back, before slowly moving forward and reaching his hand out.

Sonia reached out with her other hand and held his hand face up, “Hold still. It will feel warm, but it won’t burn you. Concentrate on holding it within your palm.” She tipped her hand slightly and willed the fire to pour into Stiles’ palm. 

His eyes widened as the fire fell onto his hand, but didn’t flinch as it wobbled across his skin. The flame flickered for about five seconds before it snuffed out. Stiles looked up at her with disappointment. 

“It takes practice,” she says with a shrug. “Oh, and how about this?” She focuses on her aura, the power in and around her, and focuses on making it visible. A vibrant haze surrounds her, all in shades of blue or green, sitting close to her skin like a bodysuit.

“What’s that?” Derek asked quietly.

“My aura. Can I show you yours?”

Derek nodded and Sonia reached out her hand. He slowly placed his in her hand, and she concentrated on pulling up the essence of his spirit. A warm purple color began seeping out of him and settled all around him. He shifted his head and Sonia could see the outline of a wolf’s head shrouding his own. 

“Dude that is seriously beautiful,” Stiles said with wonder. Derek quirked an eyebrow at him and Stiles shrugged in return, “It is,” he insisted. “Can you do mine?”

Sonia nodded and as she let go of Derek’s hand his aura slowly faded away. She reached for Stiles’ hand again and they both winced as the electrical shock jumped between them. 

“Is that normal, by the way?”

“No. If your magic were in control we wouldn’t feel anything when we touched.”

Stiles nodded thoughtfully and Sonia focused her attention on his aura. She closed her eyes as she pulled and prodded at his essence, and after a minute she opened her eyes again to see her work. Her mouth fell open as she stared at Stiles in shock. He looked like he was on fire—his aura glowed an almost blinding orange and there were swirls of black throughout, but focusing mainly around his head, chest, and hands. The aura also extended out almost four feet from Stiles, touching both Sonia and Derek with its glow. 

Derek reached out as if to try to touch the aura, “Why is it so… big?”

“It’s his magic,” Sonia replied, “and it’s seeping out of him like this.”

“What are the black parts?” Stiles whispered.

“I’m not really sure,” Sonia answered. “I’ve only ever seen something like this on one person before, and he was a … he used his magic for evil.”

“What?” Stiles practically yelps, in stark comparison with the softness of his question, “Are you saying that I’m evil?”

“No, not at all,” Sonia rushes, “It’s odd. The blackness in his aura was spread throughout the whole thing. Yours is only localized around these three areas,” she points with her other hand. 

“Maybe it’s the darkness Deaton had spoken about,” Derek suggests softly.

Sonia looked questioningly at the pair. 

“A few months ago,” Stiles begins, “well, actually, long story short, two friends and I did a ritual sacrifice to save our parents and pseudo-killed ourselves and in the process opened up a dormant Nemeton.”

Sonia stared in shock at this boy for the second time in just a few minutes. “There’s an open Nemeton here?”

“Yeah,” Stiles replies slowly.

“That might actually explain why CJ and I felt so drawn here.”

“That was my theory, too,” Derek says. “There have been quite a few supernatural people arriving over the past few months. You and CJ are some of the first non-threatening ones.”

“Is the town dangerous?”

“No, not at all,” Stiles replies quickly. “Well… only a little. But Scott is really good about convincing people to either be nice or to leave.”

“Scott?”

“My best friend. He’s a True Alpha.”

Sonia shook her head several times, “No. What? You have a True Alpha? How? We’ve been out of touch for a few years now, but we definitely should have learned that a True Alpha was living on the old Hale territory.”

Stiles looks down guiltily, “Well, he’s only been an Alpha for a few months, so that would explain why you hadn’t heard about him. And we’re actually trying to keep it a little bit on the down low, after Derek had all of the trouble with the Alpha Pack.”

“The Alpha Pack? The Alpha Pack? Deucalion’s Alpha Pack?”

Stiles nods.

“Derek,” Sonia says, pointing at Derek, “This Derek, had problems with Deucalion’s Alpha Pack?”

Derek nods solemnly. “They aren’t a threat anymore.”

Sonia began laughing helplessly, “The last I had heard about Deucalion’s Alpha Pack, they had destroyed at least a half dozen packs. And you had a problem with them. And your pack is still standing.”

“We lost people,” Derek says defensively. 

“And Derek lost his Alpha powers.”

Sonia slowly pulled her hand away from Stiles’ finally and stood up so she could start pacing across the kitchen floor. “You,” she points at Derek again, “used to be an Alpha. But you’re not anymore?” He shakes his head and flashes blue eyes at her. She lets out another short laugh. “And you have a True Alpha, who came into his power a few months ago?” 

“Yea, actually, in our final confrontation with Deucalion.”

“And then there’s you, with more magic than I’ve ever seen in someone before, just… in the middle of all of this.”

Stiles shrugs. 

Sonia buries her face in her hands for a few seconds before looking back up. Derek is watching Stiles with something resembling concern on his face, and Sonia can’t blame him. Whatever their relationship is, he clearly cares a lot about Stiles, and this is a lot of news for anyone to handle. 

“So, basically to sum up, I have a butt-ton of magic and you kind of have no idea what to do with me, and our pack has a strange and surprising back story. And you have magic and a werewolf husband, who were drawn to Beacon Hills because of the active Nemeton that I accidentally opened.”

“And a werewolf daughter,” Sonia added absently.

Derek perked up, “She’s a wolf?” Sonia nodded, “She was extremely well behaved for her age.”

Sonia smiled proudly, “We’ve been on the road a lot for the past few years, and as much as I’ve hated not having a permanent home for her, she has developed an amazing ability to adapt to new places and people.”

“Apparently I refused to speak in front of strangers until I started school. And my sister, Cora, was an absolute nightmare whenever we left the house for years. She was actually homeschooled for a few years because she couldn’t handle being around other kids until she was … maybe eight?”

“Do you mind if I ask… I thought all of the Hales died. But you and your sister survived the fire?”

Derek pursed his lips, “It’s fine. My sister Cora and I survived, although we didn’t know about each other until recently. She was taken in by another pack. My sister Laura also survived… although she died a few years ago. And my Uncle Peter is also alive.”

“He’s … a really long story,” Stiles added, “but he’s a creepy jerk.”

Derek nodded in agreement. 

“So I don’t mean to keep bringing this back to me, but … how can I learn to control my magic? I’m guessing since Deaton never mentioned it he doesn’t plan on teaching me.” 

Sonia laughed softly, “Traditionally you and your family would be responsible for finding your own teacher once you discover your magic, which, by the way, usually happens anytime between 6 and 10 years old. But if you want, I can get started with teaching you. And if you want to look for your own teacher, a new teacher, I won’t be offended at all. I’ve never taught anyone before, and I have very little experience working with other people.”

“Would you really teach me? That would be so great. I’ll research. I mean… where would I even look? How would I find someone who could teach me magic when I didn’t know that it legitimately existed until today?”

“I can give you some contacts. And there are actually some people online who can give you information too.”

“Awesome. When do we start?”

“I don’t mean to take up your whole day, but we can do a little bit now? I’m surprised you haven’t lost control yet, and a little worried that you might. Plus, there are several techniques that will help you to be more aware of your magic so that you can focus on controlling it yourself.” Stiles nods so Sonia continues, “Okay, so we’re going to try a guided meditation, so let’s sit somewhere you’ll be comfortable.”

Stiles nods and walks into the living room. Sonia and Derek both follow, but as Stiles is settling down on the couch, Derek pulls out his phone, “It’s Scott,” he says. Stiles nods at him and Derek steps back into the kitchen to talk to their Alpha on the phone. 

Sonia settles on the couch next to Stiles and begins to coax Stiles into a relaxed state so she can help him focus on controlling his magic.


	10. Chapter 10

After Lydia and Cora regaled their group with hilarious stories, Agie fell asleep cuddling between Cora and Isaac. She woke up an hour or two later when Stiles and Derek walked in the door. She extricated herself from the pile of limbs and held her arms up so Derek could help lift her off the couch. She reached out and pulled both of them into a hug, partially so that she could get the comfort of closeness from both of them, but also as an underhanded way to get Stiles and Derek touching—Agie was still sure that Derek liked Stiles, and she was equally sure that he was avoiding pursuing a relationship with Stiles out of some misguided attempt to be noble or something. 

After a minute, the three separated and Derek turned to where Scott was talking quietly with Lydia, “Scott, would you walk with me?”

Isaac rises, “Can I come too?”

Scott nods. As the three guys start walking towards the door, Cora rises from the couch and says, “I’m going to start cooking dinner. Allison, would you help me?”

Allison smiles and follows Cora into the kitchen, and Lydia follows after the pair while looking at her phone.

Agie turns to Stiles and they both grin and flop onto the couch side by side. 

“So you’re really ok?” Stiles asks with concern.

“So you really have magic?” Agie asks in response. 

“Come on, we can talk about me, fine, but I just want to be sure you’re okay. I was scared about you for a little while there.”

“Yea, I’m fine. Seriously. I just lost it for a minute there. I was telling everyone before, I think it’s just been a bunch of little things, like, not feeling like it’s home here yet, like, I’m always just slightly on edge, because the territory is still vaguely new. And then there was that big crowd, and so many strangers. And then that other werewolf. It was just all too much, I think, so I lost it.”

Stiles nods, “It does all make sense, actually. I’m sure that with some time and practice and just getting used to being in Beacon Hills you’ll get better at everything and soon you’ll be a pro at this again.”

Agie nods, “What about you?”

“Apparently I’m magic or whatever,” he shrugs, “It actually seems like it might be really cool. The woman, Sonia, her husband is the other werewolf, his name is CJ. And they have a little daughter who is a werewolf too. She’s super cute. But she was explaining the whole thing about magic to me. It seems kind of cool. I mean, I still don’t really get it, but she showed me my aura, and it’s kind of crazy and all over the place and it kind of looks like fire. I mean, it’s all bright and orange and stuff.”

“Really? Can I see it?”

“Uh… I don’t really know how to show you. She said she would teach me everything… or she would teach me until I found a new or better teacher. I guess it’s supposed to be my responsibility to find a teacher. And she gave me a list of people to get in touch with who all know magic. How freaking weird is that? I have their email addresses. It’s like Harry Potter or something.”

Agie shrugs, “Dude I was bit by a werewolf a few months ago and now I’m living with my werewolf pack. Magic doesn’t seem like all that much of a stretch.”

“Well, when you put it like that… I guess it doesn’t seem that weird,” Stiles says as he sighs and slouches back onto the couch. “I just guess I’m surprised that it’s me. I’ve kind of just gotten used to the fact that things happen to everyone else. I’m the human in the group. That’s my role. I’m just the human. I’m the one who’s armed with sarcasm and a bat. I mean… Scott’s the one who was bit. He’s the one who became Alpha. These types of things happen to other people. Not to me.”

“Well, it’s finally happened to you too,” Agie said softly, bumping shoulders with him. “And you know you were never ‘just the human,’ right? Everyone here knows that you are an important part of this pack. Just because you also happen to be human doesn’t at all take away from how important you are.”

Stiles rubbed his hands over his face, “Sometimes I feel that Derek doesn’t….”

“What?”

“Can he… hear us?” 

Agie paused for a minute to listen hard. She couldn’t here Scott, Derek, or Isaac at all, so they must have walked out of the range of hearing. They had tested it when she first moved up here, all of the Betas had almost the same range of hearing, and while Scott could hear farther than any of them, he didn’t seem to have consistent control over his extra powers—sometimes he could hear significantly farther than them, and sometimes his hearing was about the same as theirs.

“Nope, we’re good.”

“What about Cora?”

Cora’s head suddenly stuck through the kitchen door, “If you’re going to talk about this ‘will they won’t they’ thing you have going on my brother, then no, I can’t hear anything.” Cora paused before continuing, “But seriously, if you want me to turn on some music, I will.”

“Really?”

“Really. Sometimes it’s hard, but when packs live close together, we try our best to respect each other’s privacy.”

Stiles thought for a minute before replying, “Would you? I don’t really care if Agie tells you stuff later, but … I kind of just want to talk for a couple minutes.”

Cora nodded before returning to the kitchen. After a minute, loud music started playing from the speakers they left permanently stationed on the kitchen counter. 

Agie smiled as she looked back at Stiles. She felt so grateful that she had met Cora and Derek. She had always been an only child, as had Stiles. And as close as the two are, it was always a challenge since she lived almost eight hours away in LA up until recently. Now, though, she felt as close to Cora and Derek as she did with Stiles, and she absolutely loved having more people to consider family. 

“So what were you saying about Derek?”

Stiles sighs and turns so that he’s facing Agie more, “I just feel like sometimes he holds back because I’m human or something. Like he thinks I’m frail or I can’t keep up.”

Agie frowned, “Stiles, you know that’s crazy, right? Derek doesn’t think you’re frail.” She paused for a second before continuing, “And … I mean, in some ways you can’t keep up with him… like with physical stuff like running, but he also knows that there are some things that only you can do, like research and figuring things out. And he doesn’t care about whether or not you can run as fast as him. That’s so unimportant. He likes you because you’re you… as a human. He doesn’t care that you’re not a werewolf.”

“Thanks, Agie.” He replies softly, “But what if… ok so he actually does like me. As a human. What if he doesn’t like magic? If that’s apparently a big part of me, of who I am, what if he doesn’t like that?”

Agie leaned back and looked at her cousin closely, “Stiles do you know what a werewolf’s first instinct is when a pack member is in trouble?”

“To help them?” He guesses.

“Yes. And what do you think their first instinct is when a pack member is in distress?

“To… comfort them?”

“Yes. And what did Derek do when I lost control at the BBQ?”

“He stopped you. And took you to the rest of the pack.”

“Yes, he did. He kept me from hurting anyone. But what did he do the second he was sure I was okay, with Cora and Scott?”

Stiles’ eyes widen slowly, “He came back to me.”

“Yes, because you were in distress. He juggled two of his pack members who were both in trouble at the same time. I’m sorry he had to leave you for a second, but he made the right choice. I would have attacked that guy, CJ. And he would probably have attacked me back, trying to protect his family. I needed to be stopped. But as soon as Derek was sure that I was in control again, that I wasn’t going to try to attack anyone, he rushed back to your side.” Agie leans forward, so that she can look right into Stiles’ eyes, “The only reason Derek left your side at all was because I would have done something terrible if he hadn’t. He didn’t want to leave your side. And it’s not at all because you’re frail or you couldn’t take care of yourself, it’s because he had chosen to be with you- to go to the BBQ with you, to talk to your Dad with you, and then when another werewolf showed up, he chose to stay there with you. He could have dragged the guy away and demanded he explain himself, away from the crowd of people. Or he could have stayed with me when I needed help. But he stayed there, with you, and was civil, because he wanted to be with you.”

Stiles dropped his head onto the back of the couch and stared at the ceiling for a minute before looking back up at Agie, “Okay. Okay. I’m going to talk to him. That’s the best thing to do, right? I’m going to just pin him down and talk to him.”

“Pinning him down will probably be effective,” Lydia says as she walks through the living room smirking.

Stiles spins around and flails his arms at Lydia, “Hello, privacy!”

“Cora made promises, not me. Plus, it’s not like we haven’t talked about this before either. And it sounds like Agie agrees with me.”

“I didn’t mean literally pinning him down. I meant talking to him… plus, how would I even do that?”

“I think you would find a way,” Lydia says with a grin as she cocks her hip to the side, “I also don’t think that he would fight you very much on it. But you don’t have to listen to me! I’m going back into our loud kitchen. You can keep talking.”

Stiles watched the door fall shut behind Lydia and threw his hands up into the air, “Well, enough about me for now. What’s going on with you and Isaac?”

Agie pulled back. She hadn’t realized that their … she wasn’t even sure if she should call it flirting, but she hadn’t realized that anyone had noticed it. “What do you mean?”

“Come on,” Stiles said with a laugh, “All of you guys seem to touch each other on and off. Except you and Isaac. You guys are constantly touching. And before? When I got here – the two of you were cuddling.”

“We were all cuddling! Cora was there.”

“Yea, Cora was on the couch with you – but you and Isaac were cuddling pretty aggressively.”

Agie shrugged, “I don’t know. I mean… he’s definitely cute. And funny. And I like how he’s snarky and nice all at the same time. But… I don’t know if he likes me or if … if he’s just being welcoming because I’m new.”

“No, Agie, he’s definitely flirting with you. Just like he did at first, with Allison, before he realized that she and Lydia are together.”

“Wait, you know about that? Wait… he had a thing for Allison?”

Stiles laughed, “Knew about them being together? Yea, Lydia told me a couple weeks ago. I still don’t really get why they don’t want Scott to know – so don’t tell him. Actually, no, don’t tell Lydia that I told you. She can be scary sometimes.”

“No, I don’t care about that. I mean, I know they’re together – and it’s not really any of my business who they want to tell. But Scott does know, and he’s not upset or anything, so they don’t need to hide it anymore. But what about Isaac liking Allison?”

“Oh I don’t know, when he first joined the pack, right after Allison and Scott broke up, they had a weird flirty thing going on, but then Allison and Lydia got together, and he backed off.”

“What… what about Cora?”

“What about her?”

“Did he flirt with Cora too?”

Stiles looks uneasy, “Actually… a little. Things were really bad for a while there, but Derek told me that he asked about her, like, if she was single or anything at the time.” 

“So… he just flirts with all the girls in the pack?”

Stiles shrugs.

“So I’m not special or anything- he just flirts with everyone?”

“No, I’m sure that’s not it,” Stiles says.

“Really?”

“Actually, I have no idea. I mean, nothing happened with any of them. He just likes to flirt… I guess. But I think he actually likes you. I mean, flirting is harmless, isn’t it? I’ve never seen him cuddle with a girl like he did with you.”

“What if he’s not actually really into me, but I’m just the first girl to be receptive to it? Oh my god, I’m a cuddle slut. I’m just the first easy girl he’s met. Fuck.” 

Stiles looked like he was trying not to laugh as he reached out and grabbed Agie by the shoulders, “Okay, now you’re being the ridiculous one. You’re the one who keeps telling me to talk to Derek – you should talk to Isaac. Maybe he really likes you. Maybe he just likes to flirt. I don’t know. And you won’t know either unless you talk to him.”

“What if he likes me because it’s convenient?” Agie asked softly. A few weeks ago, Agie had asked Cora why she didn’t introduce the guys she dated to her, and Cora had said it was just easier to go on dates with people outside the pack – people who didn’t know anything about them. Agie hadn’t really agreed – she had said she figured it would be easier to date someone who already knew about werewolves and stuff. What if that’s what Isaac was looking for? Someone who would be easy to date because they already knew about everything. Agie had thought she liked the idea at first, but now that she might actually be in that situation – she wanted to date someone because they really liked her, because they really wanted to be with her – not because she was convenient. 

“What do you mean?”

“Well, it seems like all of the other girls in the pack have turned him down, except for me.”

“Oh… shit.” 

“What if he’s right though? What if I have to date someone in the pack? Then my only options would be him or Scott.”

“Well, you and Scott definitely wouldn’t work out. And I think you’re jumping a whole lot of steps on the logic front.”

“Why? I mean, you and Derek are clearly meant for each other. And Allison and Lydia. Maybe I should just date him. Wait… why wouldn’t Scott and I work out? Not that I want to date him. I mean, I’ve known him since he was a kid. He’s like a cousin.”

“Because he’s just… so good. And please, seriously, this is not at all an insult to you –but Scott is seriously the best, purest, good-est person I’ve ever met.”

“Good-est? Seriously?”

“Shut up – it’s a word. No but really – look at him – the dude ascended to be an Alpha based solely and completely on his pure goodness. He’s like a saint or something. He might be the only Alpha ever that hasn’t killed someone.”

“And I have.”

“Hey – you don’t know that. And even if they did die – they were hunters who were trying to kill you and Scott and Derek and Cora. You were defending yourself, and protecting your pack. You had every right to attack them since they attacked first.”

Agie rises from the couch and begins pacing around the living room, “So yes, you’re right then, I clearly wouldn’t be a good match for Scott. He needs someone else who is also a saint. But… what about Isaac? I don’t want to be with someone who only wants to be with me because I’m close by and convenient.”

“Of course not,” Stiles agrees, “He needs to like you for you. And… maybe just give him a chance?”

“Okay, so what if we go out, and then it doesn’t work out? Then we’re still in the same pack and things would be awkward.” 

“Yea, okay, and what if it does work out? Are you just not going to date him because it might not work out?”

Agie suddenly grins, “You know, I think I just found another thing that Derek is probably worried about.”

“What?” Stiles asked with wide eyes. Agie watched as he paused for a second, and she could swear she saw the cogs turning in his mind as he retraced what he had just said, “Oh, seriously? Fuck Derek.”

Agie heard a soft gasp and turned towards the front wall of the house – Derek must have just walked into hearing range as Stiles said that, “Wait, Derek, context!” Agie shouted at the wall as she began running towards the front door.

“Wait, what? He heard that?” Stiles asked as he rose from the couch and followed after Agie as she pulled the door out and stepped out onto the front porch.

Scott and Isaac were both blocking Derek’s path, and he glared at them instead of dodging them and leaving, as he clearly wanted to do. Agie caught up to the three of them where they stood halfway across the front yard, “Derek, he didn’t mean it like that, you can’t just come in in the middle of a conversation.”

“Dude – hey let me just explain,” Stiles said as he caught up with them. 

Derek’s glare softened slightly as Stiles reached out for his forearm where it was crossed against his chest. But that was his only acknowledgement of Stiles’ request.

“Can we… can we go for a walk?” Stiles asked hopefully.

Derek looked at Scott, who seemed to nod encouragingly, before he turned back to Stiles, “Yea, okay. A walk sounds good.”

Stiles face burst into a wide grin, and Agie knew how excited he was. He had been worried that Derek was trying to avoid being alone with him, and that he had been avoiding touching him at all, but Derek hadn’t shrugged off Stiles’ hand on his arm, and he had just agreed to go for a walk, alone, with Stiles. Maybe Derek was finally ready to do something about the feelings they had acknowledged they had for each other.

Agie grinned at Derek as she reached for Scott and Isaac’s hands and pulled them towards her, “Come on, boys, I’m sure that we can find some way to make ourselves useful inside the house.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Derek and Stiles' convo as they go for a walk:
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/15826659/chapters/36847929#workskin


	11. Chapter 11

“You’re sure Stiles said it was a True Alpha?” CJ asked from the on suite bathroom as he brushed his teeth.

“Honey, I am absolutely positive. It’s not like it’s a thing I would have been confused about. He even said it a few times. He said that their alpha, whose name is Scott, became a True Alpha during their pack’s confrontation with Deucalion’s Alpha Pack.”

“What happened to the alpha they had before Scott? Did Deucalion kill him?”

Sonia laughs as she pulls the blankets on their bed back and climbs in, “No. That’s the kicker, or another one of the kickers, Derek used to be the alpha.”

“Derek, the guy we met earlier? The other new deputy? That Derek?”

Sonia nods. 

“But he isn’t an alpha.”

“I know. He lost his powers. Stiles didn’t get around to explaining how. But he flashed his eyes at me – they’re blue.”

CJ popped his head in from the bathroom to stare wide-eyed at Sonia, “Blue?”

“Yup. I didn’t get a chance to ask about that either.”

“Okay. So far, we know this pack has a True Alpha, named Scott. That curly haired kid, named Isaac. The girl who lost control at the BBQ. Derek, the former Alpha with blue eyes. And Stiles, who didn’t know that he has magic. Even if they’re the most distinct members of the pack, this must be some pretty unique pack.”

“Oh, and Derek mentioned his younger sister and his uncle, who is apparently really creepy,” Sonia added as CJ climbed into bed next to her. She rolled onto her side to face him, and he scooted close enough that he could wrap an arm over her waist. “Are you sure you want to stay here? We chose Beacon Hills because we thought it was unoccupied, and because it could provide a safe haven for us. But … there’s already a pack here, and it sounds like they’ve had their fair share of problems lately.”

“Of course I want to stay,” CJ said warmly, tugging Sonia closer to him, “Even though today’s situation was tense, and that girl was definitely not receptive to me being there, I didn’t get the feeling that Derek or the Isaac kid wanted us to leave. And their Alpha hasn’t stopped by yet to ask us to leave, so they clearly don’t hate that we’re here.”

“Maybe Scott is just polite. If he’s a True Alpha, he clearly is a good man. Maybe he just isn’t the type to tell us to leave, even if he wants us to.”

CJ shakes his head, “No, I don’t think so. True Alphas are supposed to be true of heart—if he really wanted us to leave, I think he would have come and sat down with me and honestly asked us to leave. He wouldn’t have done it in a mean way, but I think he would have explained his reasoning and maybe given us options or time to leave. Done it nicely. But he’s an alpha – so his first priority is to his pack.”

“Do you also want to stay because there’s a True Alpha here?”

CJ grins a little guiltily, “How many people have the chance to say that they know a True Alpha? Maybe it is a little selfish on my part, but I do honestly think that this town could be a great place to live. If the pack survived Deucalion’s Alpha Pack, they’re clearly strong. They could help protect us and Dayita.”

“Would you want to join their pack?” Sonia asks as she slides a hand up CJ’s arm to his shoulder, “Or would you ask to coexist within their territory but stay separate?”

CJ shrugs, moving Sonia’s hand, so she shifts it down towards his neck so that she can rub along his stubbly jawline. “I’m not really sure,” he answered, “I do want to sit down and talk with Scott. Just because he’s a True Alpha doesn’t mean that we’ll get along – and that’s important. But… maybe? I do miss having a pack. And the Sheriff seemed close to the pack, so it would be nice having a boss that knows about us.”

Sonia nods. Back in Texas, CJ had been a deputy also. His family had been living there for about a century, and most of the important political and business positions were held by pack members. When they had left, the mayor, sheriff, and chief judge had all been pack members. They all tried their best not to abuse their power, but it did make things a lot easier for the pack to blend in among the humans if they didn’t have to worry about police presence. 

“And what’s happening with Stiles,” CJ asks as he leans in and runs his nose along Sonia’s neck. 

“I’m going to start training him. He needs training, pretty badly. I also gave him contact information for a few different people so that he can get in touch with them and do some research for himself. I don’t know if I would be the best person to be his teacher, honestly. And I want him to have options. He shouldn’t settle for me just because I’m here and it’s convenient.”

“I think you would be a great teacher for him,” CJ murmured into her neck as he inhaled and exhaled deeply. Sonia sighed and ran a hand through his blonde hair. Even though they had been together for years, she sometimes found herself marveling at how beautiful her husband was. They had met when Sonia was a senior in high school and CJ was a junior in college. Sonia had moved to Texas when she was ten to be trained in magic. She and her family had met a few of the members of CJ’s pack, but since he was in high school at the time, he hadn’t been particularly interested in meeting the new family that had moved to town, particularly since all of the kids were younger than him. 

“I wouldn’t even know where to start. I was eight when I started learning magic. I can’t do the same things with Stiles that my teacher did with me in India. Plus, I’m only a few years older than him. Teachers usually have decades of expertise. I only finished learning a few years ago.”

“Yea, but you’re a natural at it,” CJ replied, pausing in scenting his wife, to pull back and look her in the eyes, “Ronnie said you were the best student she ever had – and she has been teaching kids magic since the 70s. She said you learned faster than any other student and that you rarely, if ever, needed to be corrected. Plus, you cast the most powerful protection spells that she had ever seen. Even if Stiles has more magic than you’ve ever seen before, you’re still very powerful and knowledgeable. Even if he decides to go with another teacher eventually, I think that you will help him a lot.”

Agie grinned and nodded. She scooted forward so that she could tuck her head under CJ’s chin. She fell asleep smiling while he rubbed gentle circles along her back.


	12. Chapter 12

Agie groans as she leaves Stiles’ house, they had planned to go for a run this morning, but they had both overslept and it was already after ten. Stiles told Agie that he had agreed to meet up with that Sonia woman to learn a little more about magic at noon. He said he wouldn’t have enough time to go for a decent run and still get back in time to shower and get to Sonia’s house. 

And Cora couldn’t come out because she was going on a lunch date with some guy.

And Derek was going to some orientation or training thing at the sheriff’s office, while simultaneously keeping track of Stiles.

As Agie got back in her car to drive towards the preserve, she texted Allison to see if she wanted to go with her. As she was driving, she got a text back, and at a light she read Allison’s reply, “I would love to – but having a spa day with Lydia. I’m free the rest of the week though – okay?”

Agie sighed as she texted back, “yea tomorrow would be great”

She thought about just staying home and watching tv – but she didn’t have any plans for the rest of the day and she could still get hours of tv watching in after her run. And as much as she had calmed down after spending the whole night hanging out with the pack, she still felt like she had some pent up energy. 

It looks like she’s going for a run after all.

Agie parked the car in her regular spot along the long driveway at the back of Derek’s house. She assumed someday she would think of it as her house too, since she was living there. But there was just something about it that was specifically Derek—he had lived there for most of his life, and after the fire, he had designed the renovations and oversaw the progress, through Stiles’ supervision. He had picked out all of the major details of the renovation and almost every aspect of the house was his design. There were a few things that Cora or Stiles had added, and Agie had decided on the furniture and paint colors of her bedroom, but everything else was Derek.

She got out of her car and started running along her normal route. As she’s focusing on her steps, she lets her mind wander and begins her routine of listening to the sounds of the forest around her. There are usually other runners in the preserve in the morning, but she wasn’t sure who would be out this late. She could hear a few other people, which surprised her a little. Most of them seemed to be on the side of the preserve closest to the state park, where there was a parking lot, baseball fields, and a playground. It sounded like there were a lot of kids playing in the playground, which actually made sense, based on the time. Most kids wouldn’t normally be at the playground when Agie normally went for her run around 7 am, but mid-morning makes a lot more sense for them.

As Agie was running and paying attention to the sound of the kids playing in the playground, she didn’t pick up on the sound of approaching foot falls until they were close to her – she whipped her head around suddenly and realized that a girl was approaching her, following along the same path, and actually catching up on her. Agie looked behind her down the path and saw a dark-haired girl running with headphones on and staring at the ground just a little ahead of her. 

The girl looked up when she was only a few dozen paces behind Agie and grinned. Agie was sure her face reflected the shock she was feeling—she hadn’t been running at her fastest pace, but she was still running faster than an average human could, and this girl didn’t even look like she was pushing herself. She actually looked about as relaxed as Agie felt. Agie turned to look forward again and picked her pace up. She didn’t know who this girl was, but she wasn’t about to be passed by some random person.

Agie looked to her side and gasped as the girl fell in step with her. She pushed herself to her max speed and the girl glanced over and grinned at Agie as she kept up with her. The two girls continued to sprint along and Agie couldn’t help but enjoy herself. Sometimes Agie or Derek would run with her, but unless it was the full moon, they usually tried to slow her down – saying that it was best to keep up the appearances of being human, even if they were the only people in that part of the preserve. “Just in case” was Derek’s mantra. 

But this girl… Agie could tell she wasn’t a werewolf, but she couldn’t figure out what she was. She clearly wasn’t human though. And she didn’t seem to have a problem about running fast with Agie. 

They both stop when they reach the cliffs overlooking the rest of Beacon Hills. Agie leans over and puts her hands on her knees. She hadn’t felt this out of breath since she was a human and she looks down at her watch. 

“Holy shit we just ran the whole preserve in less than ten minutes.”

“It was eight and a half minutes,” the girl gasped out, looking at her watch. It was some kind of smart watch that could track your activity levels and things.

“Eight and a half? That was five miles. In… eight and a half minutes?” 

“I had no idea I could run like that,” The girl said in between deep breaths, “That fast for that long.”

“Seriously,” Agie agreed, “I haven’t felt this out of breath since I was bit.”

“You were bit?” The girl asks, straightening up, “You’re a werewolf then?”

Agie nodded, “What are you? I can’t figure it out.”

“I’m a kitsune,” the girl said with a grin.

“A what?”

“A kitsune – fox shapeshifters. According to Japanese mythology, we’re trickster spirits, but we’re not. Or, at least, my family isn’t. I haven’t met too many other kitsune like us, so I can’t really vouch for all of them.”

“A fox? That’s so cool! And can you actually change into a fox? Like, the little furry animal?”

“Yea,” the girl grinned, “the only problem is that when I shift back I’m naked.”

Agie laughed loudly, “That is so hysterical! Have you been living in Beacon Hills a long time? My friends didn’t mention anything about any kitsune living here.”

“No – my family just moved here about three months ago. Just in time for the end of the school year, which was a total drag.” Agie turned back towards the pack and the pair of girls started jogging, much slower than before, back towards where they had started.

“You go to Beacon Hills High?”

“Yea, I was a junior. Do you?”

Agie shakes her head, “No, I lived in LA. I graduated last month and moved up here. I’m going to college in Redding in the fall.”

“That’s cool. Why did you move up here already though? Isn’t it normal to move right before school starts?”

Agie nods and shrugs, “Yea but I have family up here. And I was only bitten a few months ago, and the alpha that bit me was a raging douchebag, so my cousin Stiles introduced me to Scott, who is so chill and let me join his pack.”

The girl stopped short and held her hand out, “Wait. Stiles? And Scott? Scott McCall? The co-captain of the lacrosse team? He’s a werewolf? He’s an alpha?”

“Uh… yes, yes, and yes. You know Scott and Stiles?”

“Oh my god, yes! I go to school with them. But I don’t think either of them noticed me at all. I’m new and I’m kind of quiet, and I didn’t realize that they were werewolves.”

“Well, only Scott is,” Agie pointed out, “and you don’t really seem quiet… at all.”

The girl laughed, “Well, I’m quiet when there’s a group of people, like at school. But you’re just one person. Plus, the fact that you’re a werewolf and I’m a kitsune… it just makes it easier to talk.”

“Yea, I guess it does,” Agie agreed. “My name is Agie, by the way. I’m Stiles’ cousin.”

“I’m Kira.”

Agie grinned as they approached the house, Derek’s house, her house, and Kira looked up at it from across the expansive front yard.

“This is where I live. Do you want to… hang out?” Agie asks unsurely. 

Kira rubs her neck for a second before replying, “I would, but I promised my dad I would help him with his garden today. But… we could hang out later?”

“Yea that could be cool.”

“Do you want to come over for dinner? My mom is really cool and she always loves meeting new supernatural people.”

Agie grins, “That would be awesome. Is it okay if I tell my pack about you?”

“Of course, I mean, I wouldn’t want you to lie to them. And maybe you could introduce me to them sometime too?”

“Definitely. We’re having a movie night tomorrow, I’ll check with Scott and see if it’s okay with everyone if you come too.”

The two girls exchanged phone numbers, and Agie watched as Kira ran off in the direction where the preserve met up with the more residential part of town. Afterwards, she went into the house and as she was waiting for her shower to heat up, sent a text to Scott, “Can we hang out later? I have news!”


	13. Chapter 13

Sonia feels Stiles’ presence the second he steps onto her front walk, and his magic resonates through her protection spells as he approaches them. She’s standing at the front door waiting for him when he steps onto the porch. She lifts her arm to wave at Derek as he sits in his black Camaro out from of the house. He nods back and Stiles grins at Sonia. 

She extends her hand to him, “I have some very powerful protection spells around the house. Eventually you’ll be able to feel them and travel through them like I can, but until then I will have to pull you through it, okay?”

Stiles stares at her hand hesitantly, “Will it hurt?”

“No, but you will feel a slight tingling as my magic touches your own.”

“Like yesterday?”

“Not at all,” she waves her hand slightly to catch his attention, “if you try to go through it alone it would hurt, but with my help it won’t hurt at all.”

Stiles nodded and took her hand. She tugged slightly on his hand while simultaneously willing her magic to accept him into the house. He grimaced as he stepped through the doorway but laughed once her magic let go of him. He turned around and gave two thumbs up to Derek, who waved and then pulled away from the curb and drove away. 

“He’s heading to the sheriff’s station for some training or orientation or something,” Stiles says. “I told him that he didn’t have to drive me, but I think he wanted to see where you live.”

Sonia nodded, “CJ is there too. It will be good for them to get to know each other more. And I don’t blame him –your pack is being very trusting with us. I don’t blame them at all for wanting to make sure you’re safe.”

“Oh, yea, Scott said he wanted to meet you guys,” Stiles said, as if it was an afterthought, as he looked around the living room.

“Of course,” Sonia agreed, “We would love to meet him and discuss staying here in Beacon Hills. We would love to stay here in Beacon Hills, but ultimately we would honor his wishes, whatever they are.”

Stiles’ mouth fell open as he turned back to look at Sonia, “What, like if he wanted you to leave, you would?”

Sonia nodded. Of course they would. They couldn’t just enter an alpha’s territory and insist that they be allowed to stay. That wasn’t how it worked.

“But Scott wouldn’t ever do that. He’s like, the chillest alpha ever. He’ll be happy to have you guys, seriously.” 

“But how do you know that?” Sonia asked as she led Stiles into the kitchen where Dayita was sitting at the table and coloring. She patted her on the head and gestured for Stiles to have a seat across from her. “I’ve known several alphas, and even the most relaxed ones have a driving need to keep their pack safe, and very few are ever welcoming to newcomers. And sometimes, even ones who seem very relaxed have a protective streak inside them, that sometimes they don’t even know they have until it is threatened.”

Stiles grins as Dayita passes him a piece of paper and some of her crayons, “Thanks. But I’m pretty sure I know how Scott will react.”

Sonia leans back against the kitchen counter, “But how?”

“Well, I’ve known him pretty much my whole life. We met when we were in kindergarten playing in the sandbox.”

“Your alpha is the same age as you?"

Stiles shrugged, "Give or take a few months, yea. He's my best friend."

Agie rubbed her forehead. Literally every single thing she learns about this pack boggle her mind. The pack that survived Deucalion's alpha pack has a True Alpha... who is a kid, "How old are you anyway?"

"Old enough," Stiles replied as he stopped coloring, dropped his crayon and leaned back in his chair. Sonia just stared at him until he added on, "I'm seventeen."

"And you have a seventeen year old alpha," she said. It's not even a question anymore. Of course they have a seventeen year old alpha. Why wouldn't they? It's not like this pack has defied logic and expectations at every single turn... oh wait. They had. And this was the pack that CJ was thinking about asking to join. 

Sonia paused in her thinking. If the pack was this unconventional, then they might actually be more accepting than CJ's family pack had been. Since this pack already has a magic user in it, and if Stiles is as close to his alpha as he believes he is, them maybe the alpha wouldn't mind having another magic user in the pack. 

"Well, CJ and I would both like to meet Scott. And I hope that he is as 'chill' as you say he is. I really like Beacon Hills, and from everything you've told me about your pack, I think I will like it too."

Stiles and Sonia shared a grin, before Dayita placed a crayon down on the table with the dramatic finality that only a child could muster, "I'm done!" She proclaimed. 

Sonia and Stiles leaned in to look at the picture, and Sonia felt her mouth drop open. Dayita liked to draw their family, and she was used to recognizing the way her daughter depicted them. Sonia had a long black braid, CJ had blond pokey hair, a cowboy hat, and glowing yellow eyes, and Dayita stood between them holding both of their hands. The thing that surprised her though, was the addition of Stiles, Derek, and what Sonia could only imagine was Scott, with glowing red eyes. There was also two brunette women, a red headed woman, and a man with curly-cue brown hair.

"Mishti, who are all of these people?"

"Our pack, ma."

"But how..." Stiles stuttered, "She hasn't met any of them yet. How could she possibly know? I … I don't understand."

"Mishti, how did you draw these people?" Sonia asked as she bent down low so her head was even with Dayita's. 

"I dreamed about them last night," Dayita replied with a grin. "Derek with the blue eyes is very nice."

Stiles sat in his chair and spluttered while Sonia leaned in closer, "Dayita, mishti, have you ever had dreams about people before you met them? Or dreams about places before you went there?"

Dayita nodded, "Yes. I knew what our house looked like before you and daddy bought it. And I knew what my bedroom would look like. And remember, when I said I knew that woman at the grocery store?" Sonia nodded, the brown-haired nurse in the grocery store had humored Dayita when she insisted that she knew her, but Sonia had just assumed that she recognized her scrubs as a nurse's attire. "I had a dream about her too," Dayita continued, "She's Alpha's mom," she finished, pointed at what Sonia was assuming was the depiction of Scott. 

“Melissa?” Stiles asked weakly, “She had curly brown hair? Was probably wearing scrubs?”

Sonia nodded. How had she never noticed before that her daughter had prophetic dreams? Sonia had never experienced that, but she had heard of other magic users who had. But she hadn’t ever heard of a werewolf who was able to do that—but then again, she hadn’t ever heard of a werewolf and magic user who had a child… which was part of CJ’s pack’s objection to their marriage. The excuse of “that’s just not the way it’s done” had seemed downright idiotic when they had said it, and while Sonia still completely disagreed with that as a legitimate reason to try to deny someone’s happiness, she hadn’t ever seriously considered the possibility that they would have a werewolf child who could practice magic. She had always assumed that Dayita would be one or the other. And after they realized that she was a werewolf, Sonia had just assumed that that had ruled out the possibility of her daughter also being able to use magic.

Sonia stood abruptly and put a tea kettle on the stove. Most of the time, she preferred coffee, but sometimes she just found tea to be the most soothing thing available. He mother used to make tea whenever anyone had a problem—Sonia was never quite sure where the habit came from, since she didn’t remember her grandmother making tea too often in India, but once their family had moved to Texas, tea became a regular event in their household whenever anyone had a problem.

“Do you like the drawing, Stiles?” Dayita asked, pushing the paper towards him.

“I really do,” Stiles replied. “I think my favorite part is the color of everyone’s eyes.”

“Thank you,” Dayita answered politely. “Can I show you some of my other drawings?”

Sonia smiled softly to herself as she fixed the tea and watched as Stiles looked over her daughter’s drawings. He was really great with her, which surprised her a little, since she wouldn’t have expected a teenage boy to be as patient as he was with a little kid. After a few minutes, she brought the tea over with milk and sugar and Stiles grinned as he fixed himself a cup.

“Thanks. My mom used to make tea all the time. I would always watch her and be so jealous that she wouldn’t let me drink it. And then the first time that she did, I thought it was the grossest thing ever.”

“Hear that, mishti?” Sonia asked as she stirred the milk into her sweetened tea, “Then when did you start liking it?” 

Stiles looked up at the ceiling while he thought, before answering, “I was probably fifteen or sixteen, I guess.”

“Fifteen?” Dayita asked loudly, “I won’t be fifteen for about two hundred years!”

Stiles and Sonia chuckle at Dayita, before Sonia suggests that she go play with her legos in the living room so that Stiles and she can talk. Dayita is happy to go and Sonia turns back to Stiles, “Are you ready to start?”

Stiles inhales deeply, “I think so.”

“All right. What I want you to do first is think back really carefully. Try to remember any time that you have done anything strange or inexplicable. Something that could have been magic, but you found some way to explain it off as a coincidence or something.”

“Well, I never really understood how I finished casting a mountain ash circle that one time when I ran out of the powder, and then I closed my eyes and just… kind of … told it to work. And it did.”

Sonia’s eyebrows raised, “You’ve cast a mountain ash circle?” Stiles nodded. “And you didn’t have enough of the powder to complete the circle?” Stiles shakes his head. “So you just closed your eyes and enough more powder appeared for the circle to close itself?”

“Well when you say it like that it does kind of sound like magic. But Deaton just told me to believe it would work, and it would.”

“Did you mention to him that there wasn’t actually enough powder?”

“No, why?”

Sonia took a sip of tea before continuing, “Mountain is an interesting material. It is one of the only things that can be manipulated even by people without any magic of their own. So anyone can lay down a mountain ash barrier. But it will only work if they have enough powder to fully connect the circle. A person who is able to control magic, however, can do almost anything with mountain ash.” Sonia leans back in her chair and lifts the small pouch of mountain ash that she kept hidden near the entrance to the kitchen. “For example, this is a quarter cup of mountain ash. With this, I could throw up a barrier that protects this entire house in just a second.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes.”

“How?”

“Well, what your Deaton told you was grounded in truth. Mountain is very malleable –if you will it to do something strongly enough, it will listen, and sometimes even make things happen.”

“But how?”

Sonia pushes Dayita’s papers to the side and then unties the bag and slowly dumps the contents of it on the table in front of Stiles. “Since you’ve done this before, it might actually be easier if you do it again.”

“Okay, so what do I do then?”

“Pick up the powder and then drop it down, just like you did the first time, but in a small circle around you. And pay attention to everything—how you feel, how the powder feels in your hand, how it feels as it drops to the floor.”

Stiles reaches out and takes a handful of the powder and then steps away from the table. He brings his hand up to his face and stares at the powder, before dropping his hand down and then letting it slowly fall from his hand. He turns in a circle and then as the powder runs out, completes his circle and stares down at it as the last particles fall to the floor. He opens his hand and flexes his fingers before looking back up at Sonia. 

“I think I felt something… but I’m not sure.”

Sonia smiles and nods, “Mishti,” she calls out, “would you come into the kitchen for a second?” 

Dayita appears a moment later holding a lego plane.

“Would you mind helping Stiles? He’s practicing his magic circles.”

Dayita grins and launches herself at Stiles. She bounces off the barrier and laughs as she lands back on the floor. Stiles stared in shock at the small girl giggling on the floor in front of him.

“We play games sometimes,” Sonia explains, “I’m trying to teach her to recognize mountain ash so she doesn’t ever get trapped by it.”

Stiles nods slowly, “Scott can push through a mountain ash barrier,” he says, apropos of nothing. 

Sonia grinned widely, “Now that I would like to see. And I have a few different varieties I’d like to try on him, if he’s willing. I’ve been playing with different types of mountain ash… ones that have no scent or are mixed with other herbs to make them more powerful.”

“It doesn’t bother CJ when you have it in the house?”

Sonia shakes her head as she holds her hand out in front of her, “Watch this,” and focused on the powder. She had mixed this batch of mountain ash herself and was very familiar with how it felt in her hands. She focused on the feeling and weight of it in her hand, and grinned when Stiles gasped as the powder began to float slowly back into her hand. She poured it gently into the pouch and then handed it back to Stiles. “Help me move the dining room table, okay? I want you to keep working with the mountain ash, casting circles and then picking them back up again, until you feel confident doing it.”

Sonia leaves Stiles in the empty dining room after watching him practice a few times. Once she’s confident that he’ll be able to do it with no problems, she takes Dayita back into the living room. They take out her alphabet coloring workbook and spend an hour working through different letters. Sonia knows that most children start preschool at Dayita’s age, but she had been hesitant about choosing a school because she didn’t want to enroll Dayita and then pull her out if they moved again. But now… now she might be able to put Dayita in a program so that she could learn and socialize with other kids her age. 

After the hour is up, Sonia gives Dayita the iPad so that she can play her underwater counting game—when she first saw it, Sonia had been sure that it would be too advanced for her daughter- the game had different levels, but the one Dayita loved the most was matching up different numbers before the bubble they were in floated to the surface of the water and popped. The other level that she enjoyed, but said it was more fun to play while sitting on Daddy’s lap was the level where she had to actually add simple equations before the bubbles floated to the top and popped. Sonia was constantly impressed by her daughter’s mathematical inclination. 

She walks into the dining room to check on Stiles, and stops short as she sees Stiles with his eyes closed, sitting cross-legged on a layer of mountain ash and floating about one foot above the ground.

Stiles opens his eyes and grins at Sonia’s shocked expression, but loses his concentration and falls abruptly to the floor. He stands up quickly and makes a few waving motions at the powder, collecting piles of it at a time and then dumping it into the pouch again. He turns back to Sonia before grinning widely and exclaiming, “I can fly!”

“How… how did you figure that out already?”

“Well, you said that mountain ash can pretty much do whatever you want it to, right?” Sonia shrugs weakly, and Stiles continues, “Well, first I just tried making the powder float in my hand, and when that worked, I decided to try sitting on it and lifting myself up. I honestly kind of can’t believe it worked at all though. But… I guess I believed enough!”

“It took me almost four years before I could do that.” Stiles looks guilty suddenly, but Sonia continues, “But my teacher told me it would take a decade. I was determined to prove her wrong, but I didn’t actually try for three years. Once I started trying though… it still took me a few months, but she was shocked that I managed it so young.”

“How old were you?”

“When I finally succeeded?”

“Yea,” Stiles replied as he helped her start moving the dining room table back where it belongs.

“Fourteen.”

“Well, if you had told me that I couldn’t do it, I probably wouldn’t have tried it today. I literally had no idea if it would even be possible—I was just playing around with it.”

Sonia smiled suddenly, “Stiles, one of the reasons I was a little reluctant about teaching you is because I’ve never done it before and I don’t have any structured idea about what you need to learn. But … you definitely don’t seem like a traditional student, so why on earth should I try to teach you in a traditional way?”

Stiles grins back at Sonia, “So you’ll teach me? Like, for good?”

“Well, I really do think you should get in touch with some other people, but I think that maybe we might be good together. In an hour you learned a skill that took me four years to master. Can you do it again?”

Stiles grinned and opened the mountain ash pouch again, “I think so. Yes. Let’s see.” He held the powder in his hand and stared at it intently. The powder slowly poured out of his hand and fell to the ground, where it began shifting around his feet. After about a minute, Stiles began to rise slowly up from the floor. He held his hands out to the sides to help balance, but Sonia grinned widely at Stiles as he floated a few inches above the ground, standing perfectly upright. This time, instead of falling down, Stiles slowly lowered himself back down to the ground, and a few seconds later, the mountain ash began floating back into the bag. 

“Can I give you homework?” Sonia asks with a grin.

Stiles laughs and says, “Please say I can take this home and keep practicing with it.”

“Yes, so long as you’re careful. I don’t want Derek or your dad coming after me because you tried to fly out a window or something.”

“I promise. This is by far the coolest thing that has ever happened to me. I want to keep trying it. Can I make Derek fly? I mean, can I even do it? I mean, is that even possible? But if I try it will the mountain ash hurt him?”

“This blend of mountain ash won’t hurt his skin—but he shouldn’t eat it or get it in an open wound or anything. The pouches that I have throughout the house are the least dangerous types for werewolves to come in contact with, just in case Dayita decides to play with them, even though she knows better. But he shouldn't eat it or anything because there just aren't any types of mountain ash that are good for werewolves. I do have the dangerous kinds, and even the lethal kinds, just in case, for protection, but they’re locked away safely.”

While Sonia talks, Stiles is hopping from foot to foot in excitement, “I’ve literally never been this excited about doing homework before.”

"I feel like I should probably add that you shouldn't eat the mountain ash either. Or get it in your eyes or anything. It isn't nearly as dangerous for humans, but it should still be avoided. And try to limit how much you actually touch it because it bothers some people's skin and they can get rashes and things like that."

"Okay. Dangerous magical powder is still dangerous. But it's okay if we're careful. Got it," Stiles said while nodding emphatically. "Seriously. I've got it," he adds when Sonia looks at him speculatively. 

"Okay, so I was planning on having you meditate after handling the wolfsbane to help you find your center... but if anything I think that you're actually more energetic than you were before."

"I'm just hyped! I'm so excited--there was a part of me that believed you with what you were saying, but there was another part of me that just couldn't accept it. Magic has always been fictional... make-believe, and you would think that I would be more open to believing in things since I hang out with a bunch of werewolves, but magic, for some reason seemed like too much a stretch. But I floated! I flew! And I did it!"

Sonia laughs at his enthusiasm, "Okay, so maybe outright meditating is off the table. What do you like to do to relax? Something that you can do that's repetitive but sort of dull enough that you can do without thinking?"

"Well, I like to cook a lot," Stiles says thoughtfully, "And prepping things, like cutting things up, that can be super boring and repetitive, but I still really enjoy it as part of the whole process, you know, because you're creating something."

Sonia nodded and looked at Stiles. This kid keeps surprising her. When they first met, she honestly would not have expected him to not only have a stunning amount of magic, but for his haphazard hyperactivity to hide a surprising amount of control over his magic. And to learn that cooking is one of his hobbies shouldn't be much of a surprise, since she really doesn't know him all that well yet, but somehow, it is.

"Okay," she replies, "well then maybe you can help me make dinner."

They walk into the kitchen and Sonia pulls out two bags of potatoes, "You're going to peel and then dice these, okay? While you're doing that, try not to think about anything other than your actions. Let your mind wander and I want you to feel for your magic. It flows all around you, seeping in and out of your pores. See if you can focus on it. It's a part of you, and it always has been, so sometimes it's difficult to sense it, so even if you can't do it today, that's fine. I don't want you to feel discouraged. This is something that is often quite hard, and I've heard it's even harder for older students, because you've had more time to get accustomed to the way your magic feels within you. So today we're just going to try."

Stiles nods and silently starts working. Sonia watches his nimble hands expertly peel the potatoes with the small paring knife she had given him. Every few minutes he sticks his tongue out of the side of his mouth absently. After watching Stiles work for a while, Sonia rises and goes to sit with Dayita, who is still contentedly playing on the iPad. 

"Is Stiles going to cook lunch for us?" Dayita asks.

"No, I will. Are you hungry now, mishti?"

Dayita pauses the game so that she can tilt her head to the side to think, "Not yet. But I will be soon. Can we have hot dogs?"

Sonia grins, "Yes, you can have a hot dog. Would you like salad or carrots with it?"

"Broccoli?"

"Sure," Sonia accepts with a grin, "Although I think you might be one of the only kids in the whole world who prefers broccoli to other vegetables."

"Because your broccoli is the best in the world," Dayita explains seriously as she turns back to her game.


	14. Chapter 14

After Agie gets out of her shower and dressed, she texts Scott, “hey what are you up to?”

He answered after just a minute or so, “reading n working out. Gonna have lunch soon. You wanna eat with me?”

Agie grins and writes back, “hell yea. Want me to pick anything up?”

“nope mom went food shopping last night.”

“awesome I’m on my way”

Agie threw on a pair of slip-ons and grabbed her keys as she ran out the front door to her car. When Agie drove passed Stiles’ block, she thought about how weird it was that he had magic, and how excited she was to see what he would be able to do with it.

Scott was grinning at the front door when Agie parked on the street in front of his house. She hopped out and skipped up the front walk and they hugged on Scott’s front porch. 

“Come on, we have five minutes to make sandwiches before the makeover episode of Top Model comes on,” Scott says as he begins walking towards the kitchen.

Agie laughs as she follows him, “Cora has got you watching reruns of that too?”

Scott grins widely and nods as he reaches the fridge and begins to take out packages of cold cuts and condiments. They each make a sandwich and Agie helps him put away the supplies before grabbing two cans of soda and then they both hop onto the couch to eat in front of the tv. They each laugh at various parts of the episode and comment about how the makeover episodes are always their favorites because the girls make such big deals about things like getting their hair cut or dyed, when they clearly had to know that was going to be a very likely option when they went on the show—the first season girls had an excuse because they were the first ones to be put through the experience, but now it happens every single season, and every single season there were still girls who were surprised.

“So I met a girl this morning,” Agie says out of the blue during one of the commercial breaks.

Scott turns towards her with one eyebrow raised.

“Not like that,” Agie laughs and punches weakly at his shoulder, “when I was out for a run in the preserve, a girl caught up with me.”

Both of Scott’s eyebrows raise in surprise, “She caught up with you?”

Agie nods in return, “Yea, and then we ran to the end of the preserve in like, five minutes. It was crazy. But so much fun. But then we turned around and jogged back and we talked the whole time, and she seems really cool. She’s a kitsune. Do you know what that is?” Agie paused as Scott shook his head, “Yea, I didn’t either. She’s a fox shapeshifter. Like, she can legitimately turn into a little fox. She said her mom is too. And she’s in your grade and her name is Kira.”

“Kira? Did she just move here?”

“Yea, she said just a few months ago or something.”

“She’s Asian, right? Like Japanese?”

“Something like that, yea.”

Scott nods, “I remember her coming to school. I thought she smelled… different, but I couldn’t figure out what was off about her. And she’s super shy so I just shrugged it off. But she’s a shapeshifter. Wow.”

“I kind of invited her to our BBQ,” Agie says.

“Really?” 

Agie shrugs guiltily. She knows that the pack had been planning the BBQ to be another bonding experience. Plus, it had been a little while since all of them had been in the same place at the same time. “Is that okay? I’m also going to dinner at her house tonight.” 

“With her family?”

“Yea. I wanted to tell you, and give you her address… just in case? I already met her and didn’t feel threatened at all, and since you think that I lost control because I was being protective of the pack, if I meet her family by myself, I can’t feel protective, right?”

“But what if you feel threatened?” Scott asks with concern as he looks at Agie’s phone with the text messaged address from Kira.

“I was kind of hoping that you could… help me not feel threatened,” Agie says hopefully. She couldn’t really explain to herself why she was so excited about being friends with Kira. But… she was.

“Well, how about this,” Scott suggests, “she lives just a few blocks away from the library. I can hang out there and listen while you meet her family, and if you feel threatened or scared or anything, I’ll be there in a few seconds.”

“Really? But… don’t you have plans tonight?”

Scott shrugs, “I’m supposed to meet up with Stiles whenever he texts me, but I have no idea when that will be. Plus, I know that moving is really tough, and you’ve been so great about it. If you found a new friend, that’s awesome. I don’t want to stop you from hanging out with her just because I could be doing something else.” Scott laughs before he adds, “Plus, I’m pretty sure that Derek followed me around almost non-stop when I first got bit just to make sure that I could live a normal life without worrying too much about losing control.”

“I thought he did a pretty bad job of it though?”

Scott laughs, “Well, he had a lot on his plate. But he tried, and he had the right intentions. That’s what really matters.”

“So you don’t mind?”

“Not at all. And if you really like her, and think the rest of the pack would like her, she's definitely welcome at the BBQ."

“Awesome,” Agie grins. After they finish their sandwiches, they watch another two episodes of Top Model, laughing and commenting on it the whole time. 

Scott gets a text message from Isaac as Agie is getting up to head home, so they hug and part ways. Agie heads home to change for dinner—she had thrown on a tank top and denim shorts when she went to Scott’s house, but she changed into a floral sundress with a light cardigan for dinner. She thought about wearing sandals, but ended up putting on her slip-ons instead. She wasn’t expecting any problems at all tonight, but she still wanted to wear something that she’d be able to run in.

“I’m at the library” Scott texted Agie as she locked the front door. 

“you’re the best alpha ever” Agie responded.

“heading over now. You sure I can’t bring anything?” Agie texted to Kira as she was getting into her car.

“don’t worry my parents have everything” Kira texted back a minute later.

Agie parks her car outside of Kira’s house a few minutes later and walks up the front walk and knocks on the front door. Kira appears a few seconds later and grins at Agie. 

“Come on in,” Kira says cheerfully.

An older woman who looks just like Kira walked into the room and grinned at Agie, “Oh hello, you must be Agie.”

Kira turns and sees her mom, turns back to Agie and says, “Agie, this is my mom Nashiko, and my dad’s name is Shin, he’s just making dinner.”

“Great. It’s so nice to meet you. Your house is so pretty,” Agie exclaims. 

“Why thank you, Agie, I’ve spent the past few months trying to make it feel like a home. Kira told me that you’re new to Beacon Hills also?”

“Yes, I just moved here a few weeks ago. But my cousin lives here, and I used to spend every summer here when I was growing up,” Agie explains as Kira’s mom leads them into the dining room.

A man walks out holding a large bowl of edamame, “Hello, you’re just in time,” he says as he sets the bowl on the table and gestures for the women to sit. “I hope you like sushi.”

Agie grins, “I love it. And I haven’t had any since I moved to Beacon Hills.”

“I know, there are hardly any sushi restaurants here,” Kira gushes, “and the closest one always has a crazy long wait and doesn’t take reservations.”

“That’s why I decided to make sushi for dinner,” Shin explains. The four of them sit down and begin eating the edamame appetizer. “So Kira told me that you’re actually starting college in the fall?”

Agie nods, “Over in Redding. But instead of getting a dorm or an apartment or anything, I moved up here because I have family and friends here.”

“Do you live with Stiles now?” Kira asked curiously.

“No, I’m actually living with my friends Derek and Cora, because Stiles doesn’t have all that much space in his house, and Derek and Cora just rebuilt their house and it’s huge and I have my own room.”

“And how long have you been a werewolf?” Kira’s mom asked.

Agie choked on an edamame seed briefly before looking up and grinning sheepishly, “Sorry I’ve only ever discussed this with family and my pack… it just caught me off guard. I was bitten a few months ago.”

Kira’s mom frowned, “Kira told me that a boy she goes to school with is the alpha of your pack. Having such a young alpha is very unconventional. It isn’t a very … good idea for him to be biting people already.”

Agie shook her head, “No, Scott wasn’t the one who bit me. An alpha in LA, where I lived, was the one who bit me. But he was an jerk and tried to kill me afterwards, and Scott was the one who helped protect me. That’s part of why I moved up here now, instead of closer to when school starts in the fall. Scott hasn’t bitten anyone yet, and he said he doesn’t plan to for … well, he just said he wasn’t planning on it.”

Nashiko nods, “And you told him that you met Kira, and what she is?”

Agie nodded and looked over at Kira, “He remembered you, by the way. He said he noticed that you weren’t human, but just didn’t get a chance to talk to you before school ended.”

“I noticed that he was absent a lot right before finals,” Kira points out.

Agie winces, “Yea, that’s when he came down to LA to help me out me out with my evil alpha problem.”

“So he knew that Kira wasn’t human, and didn’t worry about it?” Kira’s mom asked.

“Scott is really laid back,” Agie explains, “and Kira doesn’t seem very threatening at all. If she seemed like she just wanted to focus on school and things, he wouldn’t bother her. He said that he had wanted to talk to you,” she says while looking at Kira again, “but that he missed his chance, and that he hadn’t seen you since school let out.”

“That’s cool,” Kira says as she smiles and looks down at her food with a slight blush on her cheeks.

“Well, I’ll be back in a moment with the rolls,” Kira’s dad says as he takes the now empty edamame bowl into the kitchen.

“I’ll help clear off these bowls,” Nashiko says as she gathers the bowls that they had each discarded their edamame shells in and follows her husband into the kitchen.

The rest of the evening is spent talking about various different topics, from favorite subjects in school to supernatural traditions. Agie really enjoys spending time with Kira’s family, and after they finish eating and she helps Kira wash the dishes, the two of them go into the backyard and sit down on the lounge chairs on the patio. 

“Today might have been one of the best days since I moved here,” Kira admits.

“Me too,” Agie confides. 

“But you have your pack and your friends and everything,” Kira says as she turns on the chair so that she’s facing Agie.

“Yea, I do. And they’re all great. But sometimes… I miss having my own friends. Someone that I want to hang out with just because I like them, not because we’re obligated to or anything.”

Kira nods, “I guess I could kind of see that being tough. I never really thought about it. I always figured that being in a pack would always mean that you have friends and people around you all the time. I’m an only child, so the only people that have ever known about me being a kitsune have been my family.”

“You never told your friends back home?”

“My mom never let me. She said I was too young to trust someone that much.”

“But me?”

“Well, you have your own secret,” Kira points out. “We’re keeping each other’s secrets. And they’re pretty equally weird.”

Agie laughs, “I know, right?”

Agie’s phone chirped, and she read Scott’s message, “heading to see stiles. U ok right?” 

“yea all good” she wrote back.

“So you want to get some ice cream?” Agie asked, “there’s a cute parlor just a few blocks from here.”

Kira perked up, “I love ice cream.”

They ran into the house to check with Kira’s parents, before they walked to the ice cream parlor. They each got sundaes: Agie got a cherry garcia with hot fudge and a maraschino cherry on top and Kira got a mint chocolate chip with hot fudge and cookie crumbs and whip cream on top. The girls sat at the cute café style tables in front of the store and laughed the whole time they ate their ice cream.


	15. Chapter 15

Sonia pauses Stiles when lunch is ready, and he admits that he hadn’t felt anything, but that he did enjoy cutting the potatoes a lot more than trying to meditate. After lunch, Sonia pulled out celery and carrots for Stiles to dice. She decided to spend her time unpacking some of the many boxes that were still piled around the house while Dayita napped.

A few hours later, CJ walked through the front door, much to Dayita’s delight. She ran up to her dad squealing with laughter and threw her arms out for him to pick her up. He lifted her up into the air as he spun around and then settler her into a hug. Stiles came out from the kitchen, where he had been helping Sonia unpack dishes and cups from IKEA boxes. She was sure that wrapping each item individually was probably the most effective way to guarantee its safety, but it was incredibly tedious to do. Luckily, repetitive and tedious were two of the exact qualities that Sonia was sure would help Stiles find a sense of his magic. 

“Sonia, is it cool if Derek comes in?” Stiles asked when Sonia stepped out of the hug with CJ and Dayita. 

She looked over at the door, where Derek was patiently waiting. She looked back at CJ, who nodded at her, before turning back to snuggle with Dayita. “Of course,” she said as she held her hand out to Derek, who took it and winced as he crossed over the threshold of the door.

Stiles rushed over to him, but stopped just short of actually reaching out for him, “Did you feel that? You winced. Did it hurt?”

Derek shrugged, “It felt like… an ice burst.”

“That is so cool,” Stiles says as he turns back to Sonia, “Can I try?”

“It isn’t a game,” she says.

“I know, but you want me to get a sense of magic, right? Maybe if I can feel yours, then that will help.”

Sonia shrugs and reaches for Stiles’ hand. She steps out onto the front porch with him, and watches his face closely as he steps over the threshold. He looks thoughtful, so she gestures back towards the door. He nods, so they travel back over the doorway again. 

This time, Stiles’ face lights up and he looks up at Sonia, “I felt it!”

She grins, “Really?”

“Yea, I mean, it didn’t feel like ice, but it kind of felt like when you showed me my aura—like a soft breeze.”

“Good,” Sonia nods, “you should be able to sense my magic, particularly a protection spell as powerful as this one is. Now… Derek, could we use you?” Sonia asked as she reached out for Derek’s hand. He hesitated a moment before placing his hand in hers, “Good, now Stiles, that same feeling you had when you crossed through my magic, you should be able to feel it if you touch Derek too.”

“Really? Why?”

“Because he has magic in him too—that’s how he shifts into a werewolf. It isn’t the same type of magic, and he can’t control it to do other things, like we can, but at its deepest essence, it’s the same thing.” Sonia gently tugs Derek’s hand towards Stiles and joins their hands together. She wraps her hands around them both and continues, “You said my magic felt like a soft breeze. Derek feels more like… rustling leaves in the woods. Or soft static.”

Stiles closed his eyes and CJ smiled at Sonia as he stepped into the other room to talk with Dayita without bothering them. While Stiles focused on feeling Derek’s magic, Derek simply stared at him, studying his features. Whatever their relationship might be, Derek, at least, seemed to have a more than platonic interest.

Derek suddenly yelped and pulled his hand out of theirs and Sonia and Stiles both stared, wide-eyed at Derek. He returned the stare with equally wide eyes, except his glowed neon blue.

“How did you do that?” He growled out between fangs.

“I… I don’t know!” Stiles spluttered.

Sonia shushed both of them and turned to Stiles as she saw Derek take a deep breath and bring his eyes back to their normal color. “Stiles, can you explain exactly what you were feeling?”

“I felt Derek’s magic,” he says softly, almost reverently, “It felt just like she described, Derek. But… more. Like a creek trickling over rocks, and the murmuring of a crowd, and a snare drum. But all at once, somehow. I felt it… but I wanted to be able to touch it,” Stiles adds as he looks down, “I wanted to be able to reach another part of you,” he says almost silently.

Derek stares at Stiles with wonder, “I felt you,” he admits, just as softly.

Sonia feels like she’s intruding, and almost regrets using Derek in Stiles’ training. 

“Stiles, you have to be careful,” she cautions, instead of leaving the two of them to their moment, “Feeling the surface of someone’s magic is one thing… but when you go deeper, you’re going deeper into them too. Deeper into their mind and their soul, or whatever you believe in. You clearly didn’t mean Derek any harm, and he knew that, but you saw how he reacted, or how his wolf reacted. Imagine how a stranger might have acted if you did that.”

Stiles’ eyes widen again, but this time in fear, “I was in Derek’s mind? I didn’t mean to do that! What if I had done something wrong? Could I have hurt him?”

Sonia nods, “You could have, but his magic protected himself. Which honestly only worked because you were just exploring, and because Derek let you in in the first place. If you had been actively trying to hurt him, you could have. There are some magic users… I don’t use evil lightly, but there have been some very bad people who have left their victims brain dead.”

“If there was that much danger, why did you let him try it?” Derek asks. He doesn’t sound upset or concerned, but instead simply curious.

Sonia threw up her hands, “Because I’ve known him for about twenty four hours now, and I’ve literally spend the whole time underestimating him. He shouldn’t be able to do what he did—pursuing deeper into someone’s magic, that’s not a skill that someone should be able to do after just a few hours of experiencing their own magic.”

“Okay, so I’m weirdly good at some things. I’m sure that there will be tons of things that should be simple that I just won’t be able to do. Like, I’m great at diving off the high dive but I won’t be able to float?” Stiles suggests.

Sonia laughs—she can’t help it. This kid, he had explained that he was going to be a senior in high school in the fall, but he was still a kid—this kid had surprised her at literally every single turn. 

CJ pops his head out of the kitchen, “It smells amazing in here. Is there enough for all of us?”

“There is,” Sonia replies, turning towards him, “Stiles helped me cook.” Instead of continuing to explain how the cooking had actually helped Stiles to focus on his magic, she turns back towards Stiles as she feels his magic brush over the surface of hers.

Can we talk like this? Stiles whispers in her mind.

She leans over and slaps at his shoulder, “Stop that, you. Yes, we can talk like that. And, again, you have to be incredibly careful that you don’t lose control. If you’re careless when talking telepathically, your thoughts can become mixed and it is very hard to sort things back where they belong.”

Derek leaned backwards and cross his arms, “You can seriously talk telepathically? That’s real?”

Stiles laughs semi-hysterically, “Apparently.” Then he turns fully to face Derek and stares at him with concentration, before turning back to Sonia, “But I can’t do it with Derek?”

Sonia shakes her head, “Are you always this reckless?” 

“He is, and it’s the bane of my existence,” Derek says with a sigh.

“I am not,” Stiles exclaims, looking between the two of them, “I’m very practical. I’m trying this out in a controlled environment, see? Derek, we’ve saved each other’s lives so many times, I literally trust you as much as I trust Scott. And Sonia, you’re literally the only person in the world who I know who has magic. And you’ve already showed me so much. And you’ve been patient with me, which is not always easy.”

Sonia does see his point. He definitely should not be practicing this on just anyone, but if he’s determined to try it out, she and Derek might be the best options. “Stiles, Derek probably blocked you out. If he has enough control, he can keep you out.”

Stiles pouted and turned towards Derek, “You blocked me out?”

Derek shifted uncomfortably, “I’m okay with helping your practice, but… I think my mind should stay… separate.”

“I’m setting the table,” Dayita exclaimed, interrupting whatever Stiles’ response might have been.

She turned towards her daughter and smiled, “Daddy’s putting you to work, huh?”

Derek rises, “If you want to have dinner with your family, we can go.”

“No, please stay,” Sonia says, “plus, Stiles helped cook everything.”

“Yea, I slaved away all day,” Stiles says enthusiastically, “well, actually I didn’t notice most of the work. Guess what? I’m bad at meditating, no surprise there, but I’m totally capable of doing it if I’m otherwise occupied. I was chopping carrots and potatoes and things like that, and it was so monotonous and boring that I was able to space out and feel my magic.”

Derek turns towards Sonia as the three of them walk into the dining room, “So your strategy to get Stiles to focus was to make him to work?”

Sonia shrugs guiltily, but Derek continues, “No, but that’s perfect.” He grins widely, “I think he might be physically incapable of sitting still, so that is brilliant. I know you said that you underestimated him a lot, but it sounds like you’ve figured him out, at least a little bit. As much as anyone can figure out Stiles.” 

The five of them sit down to dinner and CJ and Derek explain how their training day went. Sheriff Stilinski had given them a tour of the precinct and then had sat them down to fill out all of their paperwork and read through the generic training manuals. He had them planned to work a few hours a day starting next week, and he said his ultimate goal was to have them as partners so that he could have a dynamic duo, his words, Derek explained, not theirs. But before they could do that, he had to pair them each with a senior deputy during their probation period, which would last for six months. After that, they would be assessed and then possibly paired together. 

“Honestly, I think we would make a good team,” CJ says as they are all finishing eating. “Back home in Texas, about half of the Sheriff’s station was staffed by werewolves. It made handling certain situations much easier.’”

Derek nods and agrees, “A few of our deputies were werewolves, before the fire. They were a minority of the staff, and the Sheriff didn’t know, but it did make a lot of situations a lot smoother, to have them around to help things out.”

“So… you’re sure that your pack will be okay having us around?” Sonia asks, directing her question at Derek. It seems that CJ and Derek had discussed it as well, if they’re both confidently discussing being partners in six months.

“I don’t just think that the pack will be okay with it, I’m fairly certain that Scott will want you to be part of the pack,” Derek replies, leaning forward on the table, “Scott is just that kind of person. He wants to be able to help everyone all the time, and we had discussed building the pack, my sister Cora and I, because we’re used to having a much bigger pack, but Scott is reluctant to bite anyone, since he was bitten against his will. So inviting you to join the pack would be a perfect compromise.”

“How big is your pack now?” Sonia asked, leaning her chin on her hand.

“Well, there are five werewolves,” Stiles answers, “Derek and his sister Cora, my cousin Agie, Isaac, and Scott. Then there’s Lydia, who is apparently a banshee, but we have no idea what that really means, and she doesn’t know how to use it or anything. And Allison,” Stiles pauses and looks over at Derek, who nods, and then Stiles continues, “Allison Argent, of the Argent family.” Stiles rushes on though, when Sonia and CJ pull back in horror, “But she left her family, well, she and her father have left. They don’t follow their code anymore, or hunt, at all. They have a new code, and they help people. She and Scott used to date, and that’s when she found out about everything, and she convinced her father to stop hunting, and he’s actually a pretty cool guy, even though he’s kind of intense.”

Sonia stared at Stiles as he finished talking and then turned towards Derek, “This might be a weird question, but how many of your pack are teenagers?”

Derek ducked his head and Sonia would have sworn she saw a slight blush high up on his cheekbones, “All seven of them, actually, except for me.”

Sonia nodded, “It makes sense to start with strong young people when rebuilding a pack. Teenagers… are a bit unconventional, but not unheard of.”

“Teenagers often take bites the best,” CJ added.

Derek nodded, “When I was an alpha, I bit three teenagers. Then Deucalion’s alpha pack came in, and Isaac is the only one who made it.”

“So Isaac was actually your beta?” Sonia asks, “But Scott wasn’t?”

“No, my Uncle Peter bit Scott, when he was … temporarily insane. He’s significantly less insane now, but… he’s still not stable.”

“But he’s not part of your pack?” CJ asks Stiles, since he hadn’t listed him as one of the members of their pack. 

“Marginally. But… not really.”

“And Scott is okay having his own alpha be part of the pack?”

“Well, he isn’t an alpha anymore,” Stiles explains. 

“You have two former alphas in the same pack?” 

“Well, technically,” Derek answers. “But I lost my power when I healed Cora. Peter technically… died. When I killed him. And then Lydia brought him back to life… because she was possessed by him. Honestly, though, we’re not entirely sure how Peter pulled that one off.”

“And Lydia is the one who is a banshee?” Sonia asked as she began gathering the plates and utensils together to start cleaning the table. Sonia continued after Stiles nodded and handed her his plate, “It’s not unheard of for banshees to be able to communicate with the dead… but for her to bring him back to life, there must have been other spells in place beforehand. He may have even gotten a magic user to place spells on him, while he was still alive, that would prevent him from fully passing on, so that he would be in some sort of in-between half-dead and half-alive state.”

“But I inherited the alpha power from him,” Derek protests, “and that could have only happened if he died at my hand.”

Sonia nods thoughtfully, “Your pack has the most unique and interesting history that I have ever heard of, and the fact that all of this has happened in such a short time frame is amazing.”

Derek nods and shrugs his shoulders, as if to say “what are you going to do”—it is obvious that he has fully accepted the strangeness of the pack’s development.

“Scott said he’s free now, by the way,” Stiles said as he looks up from his cell phone, “if you wanted to meet him tonight. Or you could do it tomorrow or whenever. Since it’s summer he’s available at some point just about any day.”

“That would be great,” CJ says enthusiastically, “does he want us to come to him?”

“He’s actually not far from here. He’s at the library. He says he could come here, since we’re all already here, if you don’t mind?” Stiles answered, texting and talking at the same time. Sonia wondered if that was a skill he had acquired that was unique to him, or if it was a skill that all teenagers today had, because it was definitely not something that she could do with any accuracy or grace.

“Are you sure?” CJ asked, “we don’t want to inconvenience him at all.”

“Really,” Stiles assured him, “it’s totally fine. Scott said he doesn’t mind, and he’s already out of the house, and he was getting ready to leave the library anyway.”

“What is he doing at the library?” Derek asked Stiles.

“He was keeping an eye on Agie,” Stiles replied, “She was having dinner with this girl, Kira that goes to our school. Apparently they ran into each other this morning, and it turns out that Kira is a kit-soon—“

Sonia couldn’t be hearing correctly—a kitsune? In Beacon Hills. And apparently Agie, the girl who had lost control when she smelled another werewolf nearby, had met a kitsune and had befriended her instantly? Or quickly enough to decide to have dinner with her the same day. Sonia dropped her face into her hands in exasperation. So far, she really liked Stiles and Derek, and it seems like CJ did too, but it seems like this pack, or maybe it was just the town, seemed to be a magnet for supernatural people and dramatic events. 

“A kitsune?” Derek asks, correcting Stile’s pronunciation, “a fox shapeshifter? Really?”

Stiles shrugs, “Kitsune,” he says slowly, as if feeling the sounds out with his mouth, “That’s what Scott said. Anyway, Agie was having dinner with the girl and her family, and Scott followed her just to make sure everything was okay.” Stiles stopped talking as he noticed that Sonia still had her face buried in her hands, “You okay, Sonia?”

Sonia just looked up at him and began laughing helplessly, “Yea, yea I am. You know that meeting a kitsune is considered good luck, right?” 

Derek nods and Stiles shrugs, “I didn’t know they were real until about a minute ago,” Stiles answers honestly, “I had read about them, but I still honestly have no idea what’s actually fictional and what isn’t anymore. Like, werewolves and magic and fox shapeshifters are real, but what about unicorns? Vampires? Fairies?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Stiles, of course vampires aren’t real,” CJ says with a twinkle in his eye.

“Wait! What?” Stiles exclaims as he flails his arms up around him and almost hits Derek on the shoulder, “Does that mean that unicorns and fairies are real?”

“Why don’t you invite Scott over?” CJ suggests smoothly as he rises from his seat.

“What? How? Yea, I will, but still, CJ that’s not cool,” Stiles splutters.

CJ looks over at Derek and winks as Stiles texts Scott.

“Not cool at all,” Stiles mutters.

“CJ why don’t and Stiles do the dishes while we wait for Scott?” Sonia suggests with a grin.

“Yea, CJ, why don’t we go into the other room so I can ask you lots and lots of questions,” Stiles says with a wide grin. Sonia was sure that CJ would tease Stiles for a while before he fully answered his questions, but CJ had several younger brothers and cousins, and while teasing them had always been a fun pastime, he also loved sharing his knowledge of the world around them, supernatural or not.

“Mommy, will you ask Derek to show me his eyes?” Dayita asked quietly. Sonia looked over and saw that Dayita was holding her giant box of crayons and her drawing book. “I want to make sure I have the right color of blue for when I draw him.”

Derek’s eyes were draw abruptly from where he had been watching Stiles walk into the kitchen. He looked between Sonia and her daughter with confusion.

“Dayita, mishti, why don’t you show Derek your drawing?” Sonia suggested, and as Dayita flipped through the pages of her drawing book with all of the slow precision that an almost three-year-old could muster. While Dayita was looking for the drawing, Sonia explained, “Earlier today, while Stiles and I were talking, she drew a picture of your pack. Stiles said it was very accurate. I have no idea how she did it, since she hasn’t met half of you and she hasn’t ever seen you shifted to know what color your eyes are. I’m going to try to figure things out, but she’s too young for magic to normally manifest, and she’s a werewolf so I wasn’t expecting her to have magic at all.”

Derek stared down wide-eyed at the drawing that Dayita held out in front of him. He slowly took it into his hands and studied it, “She drew this?”

“She did,” Sonia confirmed. 

“This is shocking,” Derek replied mildly.

“Can I see your eyes, please?” Dayita asked quietly, directly to Derek this time.

Derek looked down at the small girl seriously for a second before nodding and shifting his eyes to the glowing blue that Dayita had drawn earlier. She stares into his eyes for a minute and then shuffles through her big crayon box for a few seconds. Then she pulls out a crayon and triumphantly declares, “Neon Cyan!”

She throws her arms around Derek’s neck and gives him a quick hug before pulling back and climbing onto a chair and turning to a new page. She carefully selects a few more crayons and begins drawing a picture of Derek, prominently featuring his “neon cyan” colored eyes. 

“I still don’t understand.”

“Don’t worry, I don’t either. But I’ll figure it out, soon enough. I haven’t ever known any werewolves and magic users to have a child before, so I don’t really have a frame of reference to know what to expect with Dayita,” Sonia explains. “Did you know of any?”

Derek shakes his head, “There weren’t any magic users in Beacon Hills while I was growing up, as far as I know. I met a few when I lived in New York, but they were either single or married to other magic users.”

Sonia nods before starting a new subject, “So you and CJ seemed to have hit it off.”

Derek grins slightly, his white teeth shining out from amidst his short black beard, “We did. He didn’t really explain much about your pasts, but it seems that we both grew up in big families, and that we’re relatively alone now. And I know he has you and Dayita, and I have the pack… but it’s different. Having a lot of siblings, and then… not having them.” Derek sighs deeply and then a grin finds a way back onto his serious face, “But we both seem to have similar backgrounds, so it’s kind of like finding a missing brother or cousin.”

Sonia nods, “I have two younger siblings who still live in Texas. They were thinking about flying out here for the holidays, since we haven’t seen them in a while.”

Derek looks up as Sonia finishes talking, “Scott is here,” he says while rising to his feet. 

“Mishti, Derek and Stiles’ alpha is going to come into the house now. Remember what we said about alphas?”

“To always be nice to them,” Dayita says while continuing to draw, “and to only touch them if Daddy says it’s okay.” She suddenly looks up at Sonia, “I know I hugged Derek, but he isn’t an alpha anymore and he is so nice. Was that okay?”

Sonia grins as she looks down at her daughter, “Derek is nice. And it’s fine with your Daddy and me. But sometimes it’s nice to ask the person you want to hug before you hug them.”

Dayita grins and looks at Derek, “Can I hug you?”

“Yes you can. And you can always hug me, if you want. So next time you don’t have to ask,” Derek replies with a grin.

Dayita laughs and stands up on her chair and holds her arms out for Derek, who solemnly steps into her open arms and hugs her back.

Sonia grins at the sight of the two of them and then goes to answer the door as Scott finally knocks on it. She pulls it open and is momentarily taken aback by the adorable kid standing in front of her. While Stiles was tall, skinny, and pale, Scott was about an inch or two shorter, muscular, and several shades darker than Stiles. She couldn’t tell if he was a light-skinned Latino or if he was just a particularly tan white kid. He also had the most care-free grin that she had ever seen on an alpha, particularly one who was part of a pack that had gone through so many trials in the past year.

“Hey,” he says, waving a hand at her, “I’m Scott.”

Stiles pops out from behind where Sonia is standing and says, “Scott, dude. How’s it going? Do you want to feel the coolest thing ever?”

Scott’s giant grin stays on his face, but his eyebrows twitch suspiciously, “Why do I not trust you Stiles?”

Stiles cackles, “It’s going to be so cool.”

“Stiles shut up with the puns,” Derek calls from the dining room.

“Welcome to my home Alpha Scott,” Sonia says formally, “Please come in,” she extends her hand out to Scott and as he places his hand within hers, she continues, “There is a protection spell around my house. I’ll pull you through it, and you might feel the magic pass over you. Derek said it felt like an ice blast, which is why Stiles is making puns.”

Scott laughs, “That makes sense. And thank you for welcoming me into your home.” Apparently Derek had been teaching Scott a little about the formal rituals surrounding pack interactions. Sonia assumed it was Derek—there didn’t seem to be any traditional elders in their pack at all, and even though Derek was about her age and had been a werewolf his whole life, it didn’t seem like there was anyone else to do the job. 

Sonia gently tugs on Scott’s hand and she feels the magic of the protection spell part around Scott. He grimaces slightly as he passes through and laughs once he is standing in the foyer, “Yea, that was not exactly pleasant.”

“Sorry,” Sonia apologizes.

“No, don’t worry about it,” Scott says genially, “I think it’s actually amazingly awesome that you can do that. And I’m excited about Stiles learning how to do it too. It will be a huge relief to us all that he’ll be safe. And if he can put protection spells around the houses of the other human members of the pack, that would be incredible. I don’t actually know how any of this works though, so I’m just guessing.”

CJ walks into the room and grins down at Scott, “Welcome to our home Alpha Scott.”

“Thank you for welcoming me into your home,” Scott replies easily. 

Derek enters the room with Dayita propped up easily on his hip. He has one arm wrapped around her back and the other holding loosely onto the ankle dangling in front of him. She whispers in his ear and stuffs a piece of paper into his chest. He carefully takes it and holds it out toward Scott.

“Scott, this is Dayita. She drew this for you.”

“Hello Dayita,” Scott says with a grin as he reaches out for the paper. 

Sonia steps up next to Scott so she can look at the drawing as well. This drawing has a lot less form or shape than Dayita’s regular drawings, but is instead a mixture of three different colors: red, “neon cyan,” and an amber color. 

“It’s so pretty,” Scott starts, although he clearly isn’t sure what he’s looking at.

“The red represents you,” Derek explains, “The blue is for me, and Stiles’ aura is an amber orange color.”

“Oh,” Scott says, elongating the “o” sound as he stares at the picture again.

“Dayita this is really great,” Scott says, this time with a lot more certainty and enthusiasm. 

“Thank you Alpha Scott,” Dayita replies quietly.

“Would you like it back?” Scott asks, holding the paper towards her.

“It’s for you,” she says, “it’s a present.”

Scott’s eyes widen and he holds the paper close to his chest, “Well then thank you so much. I’m going to hang it up on my refrigerator at home.”

“Could we get you anything to eat or drink?” Sonia offers, “We just finished eating, but we have plenty of leftovers if you are hungry.”

“I actually didn’t eat,” Scott replies and shrugs as if he’s embarrassed, “I wanted to make sure that Agie was okay, and it turns out that she is fine, but … I just didn’t eat.”

“Then come on into the kitchen,” Sonia replies, “and I’ll fix something up for you.”

The four men have a seat around the kitchen table while Sonia fixes a plate for Scott. She puts tea on for the rest of them and Stiles jumps up to help her make the tea once the water boils. The five of them sit together talking for almost two hours, before Sonia goes to take Dayita to bed. When she comes back into the kitchen, Scott is talking about how he would love to have them over to Derek’s house tomorrow to meet the rest of the pack. 

“We were talking about having a BBQ anyway tomorrow, so you guys should come over. It will be perfect,” Stiles adds.

“You’re sure that wouldn’t be too soon? We don’t want to rush anyone, especially if Agie is having trouble with me,” CJ adds the last part self-consciously. At four inches above six feet, CJ is usually taller than the people around him, and being a well-built werewolf doesn’t make him seem any less imposing, even with his soft blond hair and beard softening his appearance. Because of this, CJ has always been afraid of intimidating people unintentionally, and he would never want to disturb a new werewolf—because if they lose control they can be unpredictable and difficult to control, and they pose a danger to themselves and anyone around them.

“I was thinking about that actually,” Scott says, “Stiles and Derek already smell a little bit like you, from spending a lot of the day here. If we were to all… you know… hug that would help our scents to mingle more. And if we go and see Agie now, she’ll be able to smell that, and get used to it, a little, before meeting you. That way she gets a gentle introduction, and she gets used to your scents in a non-threatening way. Also, when you get there tomorrow, maybe you guys can stay near your car, and she can approach you. That way she can do it at whatever speed she feels comfortable with, and maybe Cora or Stiles can stand with her, so that she feels completely safe.”

Sonia stares at Scott for a minute before replying, “Scott that actually sounds brilliant.”

Scott beams proudly and Stiles laughs, “It actually sounds a lot like how you introduce a new skittish dog to the rest of the dogs at the vet’s office.”

Scott shrugs, “Hey, if it works for them it should work for us too.”

“So dog jokes are inappropriate when I make them, but totally find when Scott develops a whole strategy based around assuming that you guys act like dogs?” Stiles asks with a fake pout on his face.

“Yea, something like that,” Derek jokes. “Scott works in a vet’s office,” he explained to CJ and Sonia.

A few minutes later, Derek and Stiles rise to leave. Sonia and CJ take turns hugging each of them, and Sonia leads each one over the threshold of the door. Sonia watches as Stiles slips his hand into Derek’s as they walk towards his car. 

After they leave, Sonia turns towards CJ as he wraps his arms around her. “That was a long day,” she says into his chest.

“It was, but I enjoyed it,” CJ agrees, “and I really like Derek and Scott. And Stiles seems… very enthusiastic about everything.”

Sonia laughs, “Yes, he does. And he’s been really good at everything he has tried, magic-wise. I’m almost afraid that he won’t get any sleep tonight because he might spend so much time practicing.”

“You have any reservations about tomorrow?”

“No, I don’t think so,” Sonia replies, “I’m actually excited about meeting all of them. Stiles speaks really highly of the two girls, Lydia and Allison.”

“And Derek seems to be really into Stiles, doesn’t he?” CJ asked as he released Sonia and they began to head towards their bedroom so they could get ready for bed.

“He does, and I’m pretty sure Stiles returns the feelings.”

“But they aren’t together, are they?”

“No. We didn’t talk about it, but I’m almost positive that they aren’t.”

“I wonder why,” CJ ponders as he changes into pajamas, “when they both so clearly like each other.”

Sonia grins, “Yea, I wonder why the guy who is my age isn’t actively pursuing a relationship with the 17 year old.”

CJ looks up, “Oh, shit. I didn’t realize that Stiles was that young.”

Sonia shrugs, “Remind you of anyone?”

“Well, I didn’t know you were 17 either when I first started hitting on you,” CJ replies with a grin as he moves towards Sonia, “but who could blame me? You were the most beautiful girl at that entire party. A college party, I might add. For college students. Who would have suspected that you snuck out just to go?” He wraps his arms around Sonia as he finishes talking and leans down to kiss her.


	16. Chapter 16

Agie ran into the kitchen after getting back from getting ice cream with Kira. She heard Cora’s heartbeat in there and wanted to hang out. 

Cora’s nose was wrinkled as Agie walked in, “What do you smell like? It’s not human.”

Agie laughed, “A kitsune. A really nice girl named Kira.”

“A kitsune?” Cora asked. “She smells kind of like a werewolf.”

“She’s a fox shapeshifter, apparently.”

Cora shrugs, “Weird. But she’s cool?”

“Yea. I hung out with her family and I invited her to the BBQ tomorrow. Scott said it was cool. He remembers her from school, apparently, but he never got the chance to talk with her.” 

Cora brightened up, “That’s so cool Agie. I’m proud of you for making your first non-pack friend in Beacon Hills.”

Agie laughed, “Thanks. But what about you? You went out with that guy again? How have you not even told me his name yet?”

“It’s Tony,” Cora said, blushing slightly. “And I just… I wasn’t sure if it was at all serious. I mean, we’ve only hung out a couple times. But he seems like he’s really into me.”

“And how did you meet? You just said you were getting lunch one time, and then you saw a movie another time. But tell me more. I need to know everything.” Agie was so happy that Cora was even talking about Tony at all. She had completely evaded telling her anything, and she was usually pretty talkative about the people she would date, even though most of them only got one date out of her.

“We bumped into each other at the grocery store,” Cora says, “Two weeks ago, remember when the pack came over for movie night and we realized we didn’t have enough drinks? I was out running errands already and Derek called me and asked me to pick soda and stuff up. We started talking in the checkout line, and then he helped me move all of the soda from my cart into my car. I totally didn’t need his help at all, but it was still a cute gesture. And then he asked for my number. Then after we were messaging each other for like 12 hours, he asked me out.”

“And how many times have you guys gone out now?”

“Well, I guess it was like, three or four official dates. But we hung out at the bookstore one day, and I ran into him at the library last week and we ended up getting coffee. And I bumped into him and his friends the other day at the park while running, and we all hung out. They’re kind of intense, but cool too.”

“And what’s going on with the physical stuff, huh?” Agie asked with a little shimmy, “I’ve noticed you smelling like him.”

“Oh my god, Agie, could you be any more awkward?” Cora exclaimed with a laugh and a gentle push on Agie’s shoulder. 

“We’ve done some… stuff, but it’s only been a couple weeks. I don’t want to go too fast.” Cora starts, but freezes instantly when Derek walks into the kitchen. 

“You have a boyfriend?” He demands. 

“Uh… yea,” Cora replies with a look of confusion. “I was just telling Agie about him.”

“But you just said ‘a couple weeks.’ How have you had a boyfriend for a couple weeks but none of us have known about him?”

“Derek, it’s not really a big deal. They just started dating,” Agie said. She wasn’t sure why Derek was suddenly so furious. His eyebrows were definitely doing the thing that Stiles had described. 

“Cora, explain to Agie why I might be so upset about someone in this family having a secret significant other,” Derek ground out. 

Cora looked stricken, “No, Derek, I swear it’s not like that.”

Derek just glared at her and crossed his arms. 

“Derek’s secret high school girlfriend is the one who killed our whole family,” Cora said, almost silently. “Derek I know we talked about the importance of being open, and not having secrets and things like that.”

“And?”

“I wasn’t trying to keep him a secret, honest. I told everyone when I was going on dates. Remember? You knew I was going to the movies the other night.”

“But I didn’t realize it had been the same guy for weeks now. You went on dates with like eight different people in our first two weeks back in Beacon Hills. I just figured you were… I don’t know,” Derek shrugged, clearly not trying to make judgements about Cora.

“I always told someone where I was going,” Cora said grumpily. “And Tony and I just talked about being official tonight. He said he wanted to be my boyfriend. So I was telling Agie.” She got up and walked towards Derek slowly, “I promise I was going to tell you too.”

Derek glared for another second before letting his eyebrows return to normal and engulfing Cora in a hug. “Okay, I’m sorry. I just… I worry so much.”

“I know you do,” Cora replied, her voice muffled from Derek’s shoulder, “And I do too. But I think Tony might be a really good guy.”

“Do you want to invite him to the BBQ tomorrow?” Derek offers, “Apparently we’re having a bunch of new people.”

Cora hesitates for a minute, “I don’t think so. Everyone that’s coming already knows about werewolves. Tony doesn’t. I think it would be easier and better for the pack to get used to the new people while feeling totally comfortable. I don’t want people being off-balance because he’s around.”

Agie chuckles, “You mean you don’t want me making a fool of myself again?”

Derek reached out and pulled Agie into their hug, “It makes sense. Everyone will be a little off-kilter having a couple new people in our group. And Scott said he is interested in inviting CJ and Sonia to join the pack, so it’s best if we all get to know them. Traditionally, members can’t be invited unless all pack members approve.”

**

Agie was sitting on the porch as everyone arrive for the BBQ. She had already made a dip and a couple of side-dishes, and Uncle John had informed everyone that he planned on being in charge of the grill, so she didn’t have anything else to do. 

Cora and Isaac were still in the kitchen preparing something, and Allison and Lydia joined them once they arrived. Derek had gone to get Stiles earlier, saying something about Uncle John coming in a separate car when he was ready to start grilling, but Stiles wanted to come earlier. Agie suspected he just wanted a chance to talk to Stiles without any prying werewolf ears around. 

Derek drove up and parked off to the side of the driveway, that way there would still be room for their other guests to park. Neither Derek nor Stiles got out of the car immediately, and Agie leaned forward a little to hear them, since they were apparently still in the middle of their conversation.

“When you came back to Beacon Hills,” Stiles says softly, “You said you had feelings for me. We both said we did. And then, you backed off. What changed? Is there something wrong with me?”

“What? No - god Stiles how could you even think that? There’s something wrong with me. There must be.”

“What do you mean?”

“Stiles - you’re a teenager. You’re so young. What the fuck is wrong with me that I’m so attracted to you? I’m way too old and you’re way too young. There must just be something messed up with me.”

Shifting clothing. “Derek there is nothing wrong with you. And you’re not just attracted to me because I’m so young. Right?” Silence for a moment, and Agie assumes that Derek nods. “There is so much more to our relationship. We spent months just texting. That has nothing to do with physical attraction. That’s us actually liking each other. Like, personality-wise.”

“But… but I have the literal worst track record with dating ever. Honestly, of my four biggest relationships, the best one ended with him cheating on me. At least that one only hurt my feelings and didn’t end up with anyone dying. Why would you want to be with me?”

Stiles scoffs, “Besides the fact that you’re genuinely kind and caring, and try to hide it behind an adorably scary exterior? Besides the fact that you’re thoughtful and smart and funny? Oh and also like, dumb hot? Besides those reasons? Because I can keep going if you want. Look, Derek, I get your hesitation. I do. I just… I know I’m still underage. If you’re waiting until I’m eighteen --”

“I don’t care about the law,” Derek interrupts, “Okay, I mean I do. I’m going to be a deputy, I definitely care about the law. But I haven’t been avoiding this just because it’s not legal for us to have sex … you’re just so young Stiles. What if you change your mind in a few months? Or a few years? I definitely don’t want to hurt you, but… I can’t willingly let myself get hurt again. And I don’t want you to feel like you’re tied to me if you don’t really want it. That wouldn’t be good for either of us.”

“Derek I really don’t think I’d ever get tired of you,” Stiles responded. “But… we won’t ever know unless we give it a chance, right? I know I’m young. But in all of the crazy things that have happened in our lives, you’ve been the one constant. You’ve been the one I always knew I could trust. When you left, I thought I was going to go crazy before you started texting me back. And then having that connection to you, I knew I didn’t want to ever let you go.”

“So… you’re okay if we take things slow?”

“One hundred percent,” Stiles replied instantly. “I just… slowly moving. In a forward motion, preferably. Like, holding your hand the other night was really nice. But then you ignoring all of my texts sucked. Maybe we could hold hands again, like, in front of the pack? Would that be alright?”

Derek is silent for a moment before answering, “We should talk to your dad first. I don’t want him thinking that I’m taking advantage of you or anything like that.”

“Well, luckily he should be here in a little while.”

“Okay. You ready to go in?”

“Yup,” Stiles responded as he opened his door, “Let’s go.”

After they had only taken a few steps towards the house, they both spotted Agie and froze in their steps. 

“I’m so sorry!” She instantly exclaimed, jumping up, “I didn’t want to get up and leave because I thought that might interrupt your conversation, but I didn’t want to listen. I froze. But yay talking about feelings!”

Stiles grinned widely at her and reached over to grab Derek’s hand, “Look at what I can do,” he laughed while waving Derek’s hand around a little. 

Derek walked forward, pulling Stiles with him gently and then wrapped his other arm around Agie’s shoulders, “I was just thinking that you were starting to feel like a little sister, and then voila, you eavesdrop on a super personal conversation with my… new boyfriend. You definitely are like a real sister now.”

Agie laughs as Cora shouts from the kitchen, “New boyfriend?” Stiles flinches when the door flies open and Cora takes one look at Derek and Stiles’ joined hands and leaps on the three of them. “Derek! I’m so glad you figured things out finally!”

“Were you all just listening in?” Stiles asked. 

“No, we have manners,” Isaac said with a grin as he shot a glance at Agie while putting an emphasis on the “we”. “We were playing music, but I mean, this” he gestured at Derek and Stiles’ hands, “seems pretty self-explanatory. And, you know, the whole boyfriend thing.”

Derek grins, “I want to talk to John first, though. So please don’t spoil anything. We’re not… we’re taking things really slowly.”  
Agie went inside with the rest of the group to help set up bowls of chips and things. Lydia set Stiles to work making a crudite with her, because she said she refused to eat nothing but meat and carbs today. 

After another hour, Uncle John showed up and Derek quickly went outside to help him set up. Agie reached over to turn the music on this time to give Derek at least a little privacy. She figured it was the least she could do. 

After a couple of minutes, Uncle John laughed loudly and clapped Derek on the back. “Look son, I have eyes. I’ve known how the two of you felt about each other for a while now. Since you’re a deputy now, I have complete trust that you will not break any laws. Also, I don’t even have to threaten you with any of Chris’ special bullets, because I know you wouldn’t do anything like that.”

Derek laughed awkwardly, “Thank you si--John.”

Agie looks up at the sound of another car coming down the driveway. She walks to the front window and says, “Stiles, is that Sonia and CJ’s car?”

Stiles joins her and nods and says at normal speaking volume, “Derek, you want to come with me to meet them?”

Derek joins them a few seconds later, “I thought Scott would be here by now?”

Stiles shrugs but opens the door. Derek and Stiles both hug Sonia, CJ, and Dayita in greeting, and Dayita launches herself into Derek’s arms as he’s pulling away from the hug. CJ glances between the house and Derek, as if asking if Agie will still be fine. 

Agie steps out of the house alone and begins walking towards them slowly. “Hi,” she says with an awkward little wave. Once she gets close enough, she continues, “I’m really, really sorry for how I behaved when I first saw you. I’ve literally never done that before, but I’ve also never met a new, non-threatening werewolf. But I am really, really sorry. I was totally out of line.”

CJ nods and grins widely at her, “Stiles and Derek explained your situation. I’m honestly impressed at your level of control so soon anyway. I know it can be very challenging for newly bitten wolves to adapt.”

Agie nods her head but directs her attention to Sonia, who hasn’t smiled yet. She looks like she’s evaluating Agie, but still withholding judgement. Agie offers her a small smile and Sonia finally speaks, “Did Stiles tell you about some of his magic?” At Agie’s nod, she continues, “CJ and I were both raised in very traditional settings. CJ’s pack believed strongly in continuing to do things the way they had always been done, and my magical training followed a methodology that has existed for hundreds of years. We left our old lives partially because we did not agree with the way things were done. Your pack, however, seems to be doing things, not with a disregard to tradition, but rather despite of tradition. And it seems that you have been surviving against all odds, and even flourishing where other packs would be failing. I think that your quick learning and adapting to new circumstances is proof of that.”

Agie felt herself warm a little at the praise of both her and her pack. “Thank you.”

As they turned to walk towards the house, Agie heard the sound of Scott’s car coming up the drive. She was surprised to see Kira in the passenger seat. She waved happily at Agie. 

Agie walked towards Scott’s car as he parked it, and Kira started talking as soon as the door opened, “My car broke down and Scott happened to drive by and he recognized me and offered me a ride. My parents got called to a last-minute work thing.”

Agie grinned, “Thanks Scott.”

He shrugged and Agie was pretty sure she saw a blush climbing up his cheeks, “It was really nice to get to know Kira a little.”

The rest of the afternoon went smoothly and Agie was so happy to spend time with her pack and get to know the new people that might one day be pack too.


	17. Chapter 17

“I’m so excited I get to meet Tony,” Agie said as she skipped sideways down the block. 

Cora grinned, “Calm down. We’re just having lunch. He said he wanted to meet you too, after I said that you were like a sister to me.”

“Aww, that’s so sweet,” Agie said, yanking Cora in for a hug, “But wouldn’t he want to meet Derek too?”

Cora hesitates, “Yea, but Derek seemed so suspicious the other day, and he’s been spending time either with Stiles or doing training things at the Sheriff’s station.”

“Well, I’m glad I could come.”

“Me too. Oh look, there he is!” Cora pointed at a brown-haired guy standing on the sidewalk in front of a restaurant. 

He looked up as they got closer and grinned at Cora. “Agie, it’s nice to finally meet you,” he said as he wrapped an arm around Cora’s shoulders and then kissed her. “Cora has been telling me so much about you and Derek.” Tony pointed them towards one of the tables in front of the restaurant, “I already got us a table. I figured it’s so nice out today, we should eat out here.”

“Thanks,” Agie said as she and Cora moved to sit. 

“Oh, sorry, Agie do you mind if I sit there?” Tony shuffled them a little so he was sitting with his back to the restaurant and Agie and Cora were on either side of him. “Thanks so much. It’s just one of those quirks, you know, I like being able to see around me.”

Agie shrugged. She didn’t like having her back to people coming from behind her either, but she figured it didn’t really matter. Her heightened senses would help her figure out if anyone was approaching them them too close or too fast. Plus, what kind of threat was she likely to encounter while having lunch at one of the nicer cafes in Beacon Hills?

“So what’s good here?” Agie asked. 

“I really like their bacon cheeseburger,” Tony answered, “and the Cuban is really great too.”

“I think I’m going to get the Cuban,” Cora added, “so you could try it if you want.”

“Cora, remember, you said you wanted to try to fish tacos this time.” Tony folded his menu and leaned towards Cora as he spoke.

Cora bobbed her head several times, “That’s right. I forgot. Thanks for reminding me babe.”

After they ordered, Tony turned towards Agie, “So you just moved here. How do you like Beacon Hills so far?”

“It’s really great,” Agie replied, “But I’ve spent lots of time here ever since I was a kid. My parents are from the area and I still have family that lives here.”

“Right. But you’ve never lived here before, have you?”

“No. Are you new to town?”

“I guess you could say that,” Tony replied. “My friends and I are on a cross-country tour. We’re spending a few weeks here before we decide what to do next.”

Agie glanced over at Cora. She hadn’t realized that Tony didn’t actually live here. “But you’ve already been here for a few weeks,” Agie pointed out. “How much longer are you staying? And don’t you have to get back home for school, or college, or something?”

Tony shrugged, “We go wherever we want. Beacon Hills seems like the place to be right now.”

“Isn’t that kind of cool?” Cora asked, “They get to travel wherever they want and really experience the world.”

“Yea, I guess,” Agie replied. “But don’t you miss your families? Don’t you guys have responsibilities?” Agie stopped talking when she saw that Tony’s attention was directed somewhere across the street. She glanced over and saw a couple guys around their age walking away from them on an otherwise empty street.

“Sorry,” Tony apologized when he noticed where Agie was looking, “Those were a couple of my friends. I guess they were shopping or something.”

Agie was glad when their food arrived because it gave her an excuse to stop talking to Tony for a few minutes. She didn’t dislike him, but there was just something about him that didn’t make her feel comfortable. If Cora really liked him, she guessed that was fine, but she would honestly be glad when he left in a few weeks. 

Agie finished eating before Cora or Tony, who were quietly discussing a book they had both bought from the bookstore and were apparently reading together. Agie glanced down at her phone and saw a text from Stiles asking about Tony. 

“I don’t know. I’m getting weird vibes,” she texts back to him. 

“Weird like supernatural weird or weird like creep weird?” Stiles texts back. 

“Not sure. Smells human. Just… weird,” she writes back. 

“You know, a lot of people consider it rude to text at the table,” Tony observes. 

Agie looks up at him and then over at Cora, before returning her gave to Tony again. “Yea, and those people are all baby boomers.”

Tony laughs at that and they spend the rest of lunch talking about movies. 

As they leave, Cora asks, “So what did you think?”

Agie shrugs a little, “He seems nice, but also kind of… I don’t know. But he’s only going to be around for a few weeks, right?”

Cora nodded glumly, “Yea, he’s fun to have around for now though, I guess.”

“So you’ll be okay when he leaves?” They reached Agie’s car and as they were getting in, Agie could have sworn that she saw Tony watching them from up the block. She waved a little, but he didn’t respond. She shrugged as she turned her car on, figuring that he was just looking at something else, like one of the stores they were parked near. 

“Yea,” Cora said, almost as if she was trying to act cheerful, “I mean, it’s not like we were going to get married or I was going to tell him about what we are. He’s just been fun to hang out with.”

Agie shrugged as she drove them back home. Dating as a werewolf definitely seemed to be significantly harder than dating as a regular human. Dating anyone involved lying, if only by omission, about their supernatural identities, and no healthy long-term relationship could be built on lies. But then the flip side was choosing to date from a stunningly small pool of people who already knew about werewolves. 

Maybe she would just stay single for a while.


	18. Chapter 18

Stiles flung his front door open almost as soon as Sonia knocks on it. “I would pretend I wasn’t waiting for you, but we both know that would be a lie,” he said with a laugh as he ushers her in.

Sonia smiled at him and asks, “Where is your dad? And Derek?”

“Derek is hanging out with Isaac, and my dad is working. I’m pretty sure that one of them will find a reason to drop by at some point during the day, but otherwise I am one hundred percent ready to train all day!” Stiles paused while walking towards the dining room. “Are CJ and Dayita spending the day together?”

Sonia nods, “They’re going to tour a few preschools.”

“That’s awesome,” Stiles replied as he looked at the chairs and hesitated. “Can I show you something?”

Sonia pulled out a chair and sat, “Of course.”

Stiles pulled out the pouch of mountain ash that she had given him and grinned sheepishly as he began to move, “So you said that mountain ash can do almost anything that I want it to, right? Well, I was looking at the map of Beacon Hills,” Stiles gestured at a sort of old-fashioned map of the county hanging on the wall of their dining room, “and I was wondering about where Derek was, and where my dad was.” As Stiles spoke, he lifted his hand slightly and two clouds of powder flew at the map and stopped, hovering a millimeter off of the map, clustered in two distinct places. 

Sonia rose quickly and approached the map so she could study it more quickly. One of the tiny clouds of mountain ash was clustered over the sheriff’s station, and the other one was located in the preserve, not far from where Derek’s house was. 

“Also, I’m pretty sure that if I do this,” Stiles said as Sonia felt a brush of his magic against hers, and another small cloud of mountain ash flew to the map, hovering just above the location of his house. Stiles slowly finished, “That I can trace you too. I can find people with my magic?”

Sonia nodded, awestruck. She had never actually tried doing this, although she knew the theory of it. “Can you do anyone else?”

Stiles shook his head and she felt a wave of relief. “You’re familiar with these people’s signatures... like, their scents. You intentionally used your magic to feel Derek and me the other day, and you’re more familiar with your dad than anyone else in the world, so that makes sense. But just like Derek would only be able to track someone if he had their scent, you can only track people once you’re familiar with their signature. Eventually, once you become more aware of your powers, you’ll be able to track everyone in your pack.”

Stiles stared at her blankly for a few seconds, “Everyone?”

“Everyone.” She gathered the dots of mountain ash off the map and sifted the powder between her fingers. It felt different than it had when she had given it to Stiles. The powder had felt familiar before because she had been the only one to touch it. Now, it felt… rougher almost. “Stiles how much have you been practicing? How much have you been touching this?”

“Almost constantly.”

Sonia nodded. “I want to try something. Do you have any blindfolds?”

Stiles hesitated before a second before dashing upstairs and coming back with a handkerchief. “Is this good?”

“Yes. Do you mind your eyes being covered?”

“Uh… not really, I guess.”

“Good. Would you sit down at the table and then cover your eyes?” Stiles complied and then Sonia pulled out another satchel of mountain ash, a new one that she had brought from home. 

She poured a small pile of powder from her new packet in front of Stiles and then made a separate pile of the mountain ash he had been using non-stop. 

“There are two piles in front of you,” Sonia explained. “Identify which pile is yours and which is mine.”

“How am I supposed--”

“Don’t ask. Just try,” Sonia interrupted. 

Stiles slowly lifted his hands up until he was gently poking at the two piles on the table. After a few minutes of silence, he pointed at his pile, “It’s this one.”

“How do you know?” If she could figure out what was going on inside Stiles’ mind, perhaps she could come up with a better plan of how to teach him.

Stiles was silent for a moment as if considering his reasons, as if they weren’t truly clear to himself either. “Is it weird if I say that it smells like a combination of me and the forest?”

“No weirder than it is for you to be doing master level magic in your first week of knowing about magic. Now, let’s try the next thing. Keep your eyes covered, please.” Sonia gathered Stiles’ pile of mountain ash and threw it quickly at Stiles’ face. 

“What the--” Stiles exclaimed as his hands came up to block his face. Sonia reached over the lower Stiles’ blindfold. He stared in shock at the mountain ash suspended in the air in front of his hands. “How did I do that?”

“You’re so in tuned with this powder in particular, that you’re able to sense it even when it’s not in your control. I want you to practice building your awareness with other types of mountain ash. I brought several,” Sonia said with a grin as she pulls over a dozen different small bags out of her purse. “Now, I want you to open each one but try to only touch them minimally. I want you to focus more on sensing them with your magic.”

Stiles leaned forward and pulled the bags towards him. He worked silently for several minutes before Sonia turned and pulled a novel out of her bag. She wanted to be nearby in case Stiles needed her, but she didn’t need to stare at him while he concentrated. 

After an hour, Sonia got up and found the bathroom, then got cups of water for herself and for Stiles. “Here, drink a little,” she said as she returned. Stiles mumbled absently and drank the glass in just a few gulps before returning all of his concentration to the mountain ash again. 

Another hour later, Stiles’ father came into the house.

“Hello?” He called into the house, apparently surprised by the silence he walked into. 

Stiles looked around suddenly, “Dad? We’re in the dining room.”

“Hi John,” Sonia said with a bit of a wave as he entered the room, “Stiles is studying mountain ash.”

John just surveyed the room and finally said, “I don’t think the house has ever been this quiet before when Stiles is home and awake. How is everything going?”

Sonia chuckled, “Surprisingly fantastic. I haven’t found anything that Stiles hasn’t excelled at yet. And I was hoping to try one or two more things, but I want a spotter for them.”

“A spotter?” Stiles and his father both asked at the same time, and then grinned over at each other at the coincidence. 

“I’d like to try… well, essentially I’d like to try to attack Stiles, to see how he defends himself.”

“You want to attack me?”

Sonia shrugged, “Would it be better if I said I’d like to spar with you? It’s essentially the same thing. I want to test your magical reflexes.”

John nodded, “I think that’s a good idea. But you should maybe text Scott and Derek, son. Just in case they worry.”

Stiles nodded and pulled out his phone. He sent out a text on his group chat that included only Derek and Scott, “Sonia wants to try magical sparring. My dad is here to chaperone, but don’t worry if anything weird happens. I’ll text you both when we’re done.”

“Okay, so how is this going to work?” Stiles asked.

“We’ve talked about how mountain ash can be used defensively,” Sonia said to Stiles, but also wanted to explain things to his dad so that he would feel more comfortable. “We’ve also practiced sensing it and using it without relying on physical touch. You are also aware of our ability to touch each other’s magic. With that knowledge, I want to see what you do to defend yourself against some relatively low-risk attacks. Obviously I’m not going to try to kill your or anything permanent. Okay?”

Stiles nodded and got up from his chair, “Do I have to get into a specific pose or something?”

“No. Most magic can be done without moving at all. But, if it makes it easier for you to use your hands to direct your magic, you definitely can.”

“Won’t it give away my intentions?”

Sonia grinned wickedly, “Of course. That’s why most people try to fight without moving.”

“Okay so what if --” Stiles stopped talking abruptly as his empty cup flew directly at his head. He ducked out of the way and then an instant later reached out and grabbed the cup with his magic. It was just out of his arm’s reach, but he still managed to make it freeze in mid-air. Just as he grinned and shifted to throw it back at Sonia, she threw her own cup at him. 

It bounced lightly off his head and he dropped the cup that he was holding. 

“Ouch,” Stiles said, grinning ruefully as he rubbed at his head.

Sonia reached out her hand and both cups sailed into it, one sitting inside the other. “Ready?”

Stiles shifted his stance and brought both of his hands up this time. She threw both cups at him at the same time, while also shifted the carpet underneath his feet by a few inches. Stiles flailed and got hit by another cup while the second one flew harmlessly past one of his arms. 

John laughed from the kitchen doorway, “I thought you said Stiles had been doing well?”

“No, please don’t judge him based on this performance,” Sonia said quickly. “He’s been doing so exceptionally that I wanted to find out what his limits were. Stiles, you’re thinking too physically. Don’t just try to use your hands to block things. Use your magic. 

Sonia felt guilty. She hadn’t meant to make his dad think that he wasn't’ doing well at this. As she turned back to John to explain more how well Stiles had been doing, the two cups zoomed towards her face. She froze them instantly and threw them back at Stiles. He dodged one and used his magic to knock the other one to the side, but then got hit in his stomach by a small picture frame that had been sitting on an end table. 

Stiles grinned and grabbed at the picture frame with his hand, and then used his magic to send it and the two cups towards Sonia. She froze them instantly and threw one back at Stiles while directing one cup towards John. Stiles’ father was standing across the room from him and the only way Stiles could prevent his dad from getting hit was to use his magic. 

“No,” Stiles shouted while he threw up his arms. Both cups instantly disintegrated into dust. Sonia looked intently at Stiles as he lowered his hands, panting slightly. He was staring at the carpet and the swirls of dust that used to be cups. 

“Fantastic,” Sonia praised him. “You’re using your magic as a reflex. That’s amazing Stiles.”

Stiles slowed his breathing after a minute but kept his eyes trained on the floor. “I’m sorry about the cups, Dad.”

“Don’t worry about them, Stiles. I’m pretty sure we got them at the dollar store a decade ago.”

Stiles nodded and then slowly lifted his eyes up to Sonia’s. She thought she saw a flash of darkness in them, but then he grinned and the shadow was gone. Then he directed his attention at his dad again, “Also sorry you were a target.”

John shrugged, “It didn’t look like the cup hurt too badly when you got hit, so I wasn’t too worried.”

“Now, you ready to start again?” Sonia asked.

Stiles hesitated for a minute before nodding, “Maybe, though, can you leave my dad out of it?”


	19. Chapter 19

Agie met Kira at the high school so they could play tennis. Kira said that she had played it at her old school, but hadn’t found anyone to play with her here besides her parents. 

“I’ve never played tennis outside of gym class,” Agie admitted as she took one of the rackets that Kira offered her. It looked a lot fancier than any of the ones her school provided. 

“I love it,” Kira said. “I used to be part of the league back home. I’ll help you remember how to do everything. Plus, have you played since you became a you know what?”

Agie laughed. There were four guys playing a few courts over, but the odds of them hearing anything they said was very slim. “No, I haven’t. So maybe I’ll be even better now.”

It turns out that Agie was better at tennis now that she was faster and stronger. Or maybe she had just never played with someone who enjoyed the game so much. Either way, the two of them played for over an hour before they decided to take a break. As much as she didn’t feel tired or out of breath or anything, she still sweats pretty normally. 

Kira met Agie over by their bags and they sat on the bench enjoying their water. “You did pretty good, Agie. I only beat you by a few points.”

The sound of the guys talking at the other end of the tennis courts drifted over to them. “I can’t wait for this hunting trip,” a brown-haired guy said as he gathered a few of their old balls.

“Yea, it should be the best one yet,” his friend confirmed. 

“We’ll be heroes after it’s all said and done,” a blonde one said. “Everyone is going to be talking about us.”

Kira turned towards Agie, “Is there a lot of hunting around here?”

Agie shrugged, “I have no idea. I know that you’re not allowed to hunt in the preserve. But maybe in the state park? Uncle John was never into hunting so I really don’t know much about it up here.”

“Weird.”

“Yea,” Agie said as she finished her water and stood back up, “Maybe they’re leaving to go somewhere else… soon? You ready to play another round?”

“Sure!” Kira jumped up and raced across to her side of the court. Kira said they tied the next game, and then Kira ended up beating Agie for the third game. Agie wasn’t really paying attention to the score; she was just having fun playing. 

“Want to do lunch together?” Agie asked as they finished playing their third game. 

“Yea that would be great,” Kira assented. “What do you want to do?”

Agie pulled her phone out and saw a couple texts from Stiles and one from Derek. Stiles was ranting about his magic, so she decided to respond to him after Derek. “Isaac and I are grilling. Invite Kira over,” Derek had texted.

Agie grinned up at Kira, “Want to come to my place? Derek is grilling.”

“Will Scott be there?”

“I’m not sure. I can text him if you want,” Agie said with a sly grin. 

Kira blushed, “I don’t know. I don’t want to bother him if he’s busy.”

Agie followed Kira towards the car while texting Derek, “We’re on our way. Kira is interested to know if Scott will be there.”

Derek responded almost instantly, “I will not play matchmaker with all of these underage werewolves.”

When Agie and Kira got there, Agie brought Kira up to her room, “I’d love to shower, but I can hop in Cora’s shower if you want to shower in mine. And I’m pretty sure you’ll fit in my clothes if you want.”

“Oh my gosh, that would be amazing,” Kira beamed. “Are you sure you don’t mind? And Cora won’t mind?”

“No it’s fine. I’d rather smell like Cora’s shampoo than sweat anyway.” Kira hopped into her shower and Agie pulled out a couple outfits for Kira to choose from before going over to Cora’s room to shower.

Regardless of what Derek had texted, Scott arrived at their house just a few minutes after Kira and Agie got out of their showers. 

“So how was lunch with Cora’s boyfriend,” Scott asked as they all started making plates of food.

Agie shrugged, “He wasn’t my favorite person ever. He was … um… a little weird, I guess.”

Derek’s eyebrows furrowed, but he didn’t say anything. “He did say he’s on a road trip with his friends, and that they’re only planning on staying in Beacon Hills for a couple of weeks. And Cora said that she’ll be fine with him leaving then.”

“You’re sure?” Isaac asked. “She’s been spending a lot of time with him.”

“Well, she said that she is. I think she essentially said, ‘well it’s not like I’m going to marry him or anything, but he’s fun to have around’ or something like that.”

“Is Agie the only one who has met Cora’s boyfriend?” Kira asked.

Derek nodded, still looking tense.

Agie looked over at Derek before offering, “I can try to hang out with them a couple more times. Maybe Isaac could come with us to help scope him out?”

Isaac perked up, “And we could invite some of his friends, for like a big group thing. That way we could try to get to know them better too. Figure out what’s going on with them all.”

Derek nodded and looked to Scott, “What if Kira and I sort of shadow the rest of you? We could hang out together, like, somewhere nearby. That way we would sort of like be backup?”

Kira nodded, “That sounds good. In case anything goes wrong, you know?”

“I don’t want Cora to think we’re spying on her,” Derek said hesitantly.

“We’re not,” Agie said. “I miss hanging out with her. She spends all of her time with Tony now. And I want to get to know his friends, just because.”

“And I did shadow Agie the last time he hung out with someone new,” Scott pointed out.

“Wait, you did?” Kira asked, turning to look between Scott and Agie. “Was that me?”

Agie nodded somewhat guiltily, “It was my first time really being alone with a new group of people since I was bit. I was afraid of losing control.”

Kira nodded, “Oh, I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize. You didn’t have to come over if you weren’t comfortable.”

“No, no I was! I was just afraid of what might happen… I wanted to be cautious,” Agie explained quickly.

“It’s pretty common for new werewolves, particularly teenagers, to have trouble with control,” Derek explained. “Agie’s been really good, but it’s still good to have a backup plan. Even with your family’s powers, we still didn’t want to risk anything happening to you.”

“So it’s decided then?” Agie asked. “We’re not spying on Cora. We’re just being intentional about getting to know Tony and his friends, and we’re taking precautions to make sure I don’t lose control.”

Everyone nodded, and they turned their conversation towards something a little more light-hearted. 

As they were eating, Agie texted Cora, “Hey I was thinking we could have like a small group hang with Tony? and his friends? Maybe just me and Isaac. It doesn’t have to be the whole pack or anything. Maybe see a movie or something. lmk”

After they all finished eating and cleaning everything up, Agie checked her phone again and was disappointed that Cora hadn’t responded yet. She shrugged and figured she’d talk to Cora when she came home later.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some graphic descriptions of violence towards the end of this chapter. Skip to the notes at the end for more details.

Sonia left Stiles’ house a few hours later, after attacking Stiles with almost every type of magical assault she felt comfortable doing. After the first hour, Stiles was responding almost exclusively with magical defenses, and his counter-attacks were almost flawless. She still wanted to focus on more of the basics with Stiles, but she felt like she was finally starting to understand his approach and grasp of magic. Their sparring had also definitely helped Stiles to feel more unified with his magic.

Sonia’s phone rang as she was parking her car in the car in her driveway, and she smiled when she saw that it was CJ, “Hey darling, I’m just getting home. Where---”

CJ cut her off with a growl, “Shot. Took Dayita.”

“What?” Sonia screamed as she jumped out of her car. The second she exited the car though, something descended over her face, completely blocking her senses. All she could smell was a strong chemical, and she guess it was chloroform based on the incredibly strong smell. 

With her last shred of consciousness, she reached out to Stiles and telepathically shouted, “HELP!”

**

Sonia woke up slowly, but as soon as her eyes opened she immediately reached out and grabbed her daughter. She wasn’t sure where they were yet, but she was immensely comforted to know that they were at least together. 

“Hi mommy,” Dayita whispered, wrapping her arms around Sonia’s neck. 

Sonia looked around and saw that Allison and Lydia, two of the girls from Stiles’ pack were in the same small room with them. Allison smiled weakly asked, “How’s your head feeling?”

“Groggy, but fine. Do you know where we are?”

Both girls shook their heads, “They jumped us while we were leaving the grocery store.” Lydia grimaced while Allison spoke but stayed quiet. 

“Do you know who has us?” 

Allison scowled at this, “They said they were hunters, but refused to speak to me. They called me a disgrace.”

“Is Lydia okay?” Sonia asked quietly. Lydia had been grimacing nonstop since she had woken up and had started to gently rock back and forth.

Lydia shook her head at this, but didn’t respond. 

“Did Stiles… ah… tell you about Lydia?” Allison asked quietly. 

Sonia nodded and felt a sense of dread creep over her. She trusted that the pack would look out for CJ; Scott had made it obvious that even if they weren’t officially pack yet, that they were on their way towards it. But if Lydia’s banshee senses were bothering her this much, then many people were bound to die soon. 

The door flung open and a young blond man opened the door and two others threw Stiles into the room. He collapsed on the floor on his face with a groan. Sonia could see a trickle of blood drip from his above his eyebrow, but the cut didn’t seem to be deep. 

The blond sneered at all of them and then slammed the door shut. 

Stiles slowly climbed up to his knees and looked around. “What the?” He rubbed at his head and smeared some of the blood around before pulling his fingers back to look at them. 

“We were kidnapped,” Allison said. 

“Obviously. When are we going to break out?” He directed his question towards Sonia. 

“Are there any other human members of the pack?” Sonia asked instead of answering Stiles’ question. 

The three teenagers glance at each other and Stiles speaks, “Only my dad and Allison’s dad, but they’re not really official.”

“Plus my dad is out of town right now,” Allison said. 

“And my dad went back to the station,” Stiles added. 

“So they only kidnapped the helpless human members of the pack,” Sonia said with an emphasis on “helpless” and “human.” She looked intently at Stiles as she spoke. 

“So we shouldn’t…?”

“I don’t like it, but I think we to. Right now their ignorance about us is our biggest asset,” Sonia replied. 

“But you know we’re essentially just bait, right? There’s no reason to kidnap all of us unless they want the rest of the pack to attack.”

The door suddenly opened again and a tall brunette male walked in. He grinned down at Stiles, “You gave my friends a pretty good fight. But three against one isn’t really fair, so here you are.”

Stiles scowled up at him and asked, “Who are you?”

“Oh you haven’t figured it out yet?” The man smirked and then turned back to the door, “Bring her in.” They heard movement outside the door and as it opened, the brunette started speaking again, “Maybe if I introduce you to my girlfriend, you’ll be able to figure things out faster.”

The door finished swinging open and the two big guys from before carried Cora in, each gripping her upper arm. She stared at them with wide eyes, but couldn’t make more than a groaning sound from behind her gag. Both her arms and legs were bound with mountain ash infused chains, and Sonia could feel them humming from across the room. 

Stiles jumped to his feet, “You’re Tony?”

The brunette grinned and clapped his hands, “You got it on the first guess!”

“What the fuck is wrong with you? What has Cora done to deserve this?”

“Cora? Sweet Cora?” Tony reached out and stroked along Cora’s jawline. She tried to jerk her head away from him, but didn’t have much range of motion with her limbs all bound by mountain ash and two brutes holding her as still as they can. “Nothing much, honestly. But there’s just one little problem. She’s a monster.” Tony turned to look at Stiles again, and his eyes glinted with insanity, “And we’re monster-hunters. We’re heroes.”

“They aren’t monsters,” Stiles said softly, grounding each syllable out as if it was painful. 

“You might not think so,” Tony said with a casual wave of his hand, “But that’s only because they’ve all brainwashed you. You think they’re just misunderstood or something. We’re here to save you from them. You can thank us all later, once we’ve freed you from the brainwashing. We have more than enough men to take on your entire so-called pack, and once we finish with them we can focus on your rehabilitation.”

“They aren’t monsters,” Stiles repeated slowly. “You want to see a real monster? Do you really think that werewolves are the most powerful things out there?”

Sonia felt like the world froze for an instant. Somehow, hearing her words repeated back in Stiles’ suddenly gravely voice sent shivers through her. There was something wrong about Stiles’ stance, the position of his shoulders, the tone of his voice. Sonia couldn’t see Stiles’ eyes from here, but she was suddenly sure that the darkness she thought she had seen in his eyes when she had pretended to attack his dad would suddenly be there again. 

Sonia glanced over at Allison, who from her angle could see Stiles’ eyes, and based on the look of horror on her face, Sonia had all of the confirmation she needed. 

Sonia looked back at Stiles and Tony, and recoiled in horror as Tony’s skin started to literally melt off of his face as if he were being attacked by invisible acid. His screams only lasted a few seconds before he suddenly fell to the floor dead. Sonia threw a hand over Dayita’s face and whispered, “Sleep, mishti.” She felt Dayita go limp in her arms and Sonia carried her as she darted across to Allison on her knees. “Please, hold her. Keep her safe.” 

Allison stared at Sonia with wide eyes but nodded as she enveloped Dayita in her arms. 

Behind her, Sonia heard the other two men scream and then quickly drop to the floor. She turned just in time to see Stiles step over Cora and leave the room. 

Sonia rushed to Cora and used her magic to tear the mountain ash chains off of her and pulled the gag out of her mouth Cora exhaled something between a sob and a scream as she rose up and scuttled away from the destroyed remains of the three hunters. 

“What the fuck happened to Stiles’ eyes?” Cora finally gasped once she was clear of the mess.

Sonia glanced back at Allison, “Stiles said something about a darkness, after that sacrifice? Was there anything else? Have you or Scott felt any side-effects?”

Allison shook her head, “No, I have no idea. Scott said he.. felt angrier sometimes, and I’ve noticed my patience isn’t the same as it used to be, but…”

Lydia spoke for the first time, “Stiles has always had anger in him,” she said in a monotonous voice. “And he is fiercely defensive. If they have enough men to feel confident about taking on our pack, then that means that our friends, our family is in danger. And Stiles knows that he can actually defend his pack for the first time. So he will.”

Sonia stared at the red-head for a moment before saying, “Please stay here. Cora will you stay and protect them? I need to stop Stiles. He can’t murder all of them.”

“Can you stop him?” Lydia’s voice was chilling. Sonia definitely remembered her being much more lively at the BBQ, but this monotonous voice was unsettling. 

Sonia heard more screams and spoke as she turned to run, “I hope so.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Towards the very end of the chapter, Stiles goes dark and uses his magic to gruesomely murder the hunters who captured them.


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More descriptions of graphic violence. Stiles uses more magic to kill the hunters.

Agie had been standing next to Derek when his phone had rung. Derek had answered with a grin on his face, “Hey Stiles,” before the grin suddenly vanished. 

Agie could hear Stiles’ small voice shouting, although he obviously wasn’t talking to Derek, “Get the fuck out of my house! Don’t you fucking touch me!” Then there had been a huge crashing noise and the phone call ended. 

Derek looked over at Agie with panic in his eyes, “Car. Now.” 

Isaac, Scott, Kira, and Derek all jumped into Scott’s car, since it was the one at the end of the driveway, and Scott drove well over the speed limit until the reached Stiles’ house. 

The front door was closed, but once they let themselves in with Scott’s key, there was obvious evidence of a fight. The back door had been kicked in, and the four of them scoured the house for any signs of Stiles. 

Isaac found the remains of Stiles’ crushed phone behind one of the overturned dining room chairs. 

Agie’s attention was caught by the map hanging on the wall. She had always loved this map of Beacon Hills, and it had been hanging in the dining room for as long as she could remember. “Hey guys, what’s that black dot?”

Derek, Scott, and Isaac all instantly converged on the map and stared at it. Isaac finally spoke up, “Isn’t that where they’re building that new library? The one that’s been under construction for like three years because they keep having new budget problems?”

“That would make a pretty effective hideout for hunters,” Derek growled. 

“You think hunters took Stiles?” Kira squeaked from behind them. 

“Who else would have?” Scott reasoned, “Other than Stiles’ association with us, there is no reason for anyone to kidnap him.”

“But his dad is the Sheriff. Isn’t is possible like… a criminal could be angry or something?” Kira began wringing her hands together as she spoke. 

Scott shook his head, “I can smell that there were at least three different people here. So it’s a group of people, not just some random vindictive criminal. And they had wolfsbane with them. No regular criminal is going to be carrying that around with them.”

“So we think Stiles put the dot over the location? How could he have known where they were hiding out?” Agie asked. 

Derek shrugged but replied, “He and Sonia spent the day training here. Maybe she helped him with location spells? And if he had time to call me, he had some kind of heads up that something was happening. I don’t know what it is, but Stiles definitely reached out to let us know what was happening and left this here as a sign.”

Scott’s phone rang while Derek was talking, and he stepped into the kitchen to answer it. “Hey CJ, what’s happening?”

“Where are you?” Agie heard CJ gasp through the line, “Hunters took Dayita and I think Sonia too.”  
“Fuck,” Scott said under his breath. Agie’s eyebrows rose and she saw Isaac and Derek expressing equal signs of surprise. She didn’t remember ever hearing Scott curse before. “They took Stiles too. Are you okay? You don’t sound alright.”

“I was shot,” CJ admits, “with wolfsbane. But I’m fine for now.”

“For now?” Kira asked hoarsely. 

Agie nodded, “It doesn’t kill us instantly, just… it’s more of a slow and painful death.”

“CJ I’m going to text you an address. We think Stiles left us a clue where they were taken. We’re all going to meet there.” Scott paused before continuing, and his face shifted into the most serious expression she had ever seen on his genial face, “Do not go in until we’re all there.” Agie felt rocked by the pure power that his last sentence conveyed. She had never heard her Alpha use his full power to command a beta before, but that must have been it. 

“Yes, Alpha,” CJ replied over the line before hanging up. 

“Alright let’s go,” Derek said firmly and began walking towards the door as Scott started texting CJ. 

Agie looked over at Kira, “You don’t have to come. It’s probably going to be bad there. If they coordinated kidnapping three different people at the same time, they probably have a lot of guys there.”

“Neither Allison or Lydia are answering their phones,” Isaac interrupted. “How much do you want to bet that they were taken too?”

“I want to come,” Kira said firmly as she got into the car, “My house is two blocks from here. Can we stop there for two seconds?”

Scott looked at her a little weirdly, but followed her directions. She jumped out of the car before it even stopped and ran full-speed into her house. Agie checked to make sure that no neighbors happened to be outside, but luckily there was no one around to notice Kira dash back out literally seconds later. 

“Okay, go,” she said as she settled a sword in between her legs. 

Scott stared at her for a few too many seconds, and Derek shoved his shoulder, “Go,” he barked.

Scott peeled out and Isaac casually leaned forward and said, “So Kira. What’s with the sword?”

Kira chuckled nervously. “It’s a katana. I’ve never actually used them on people before, but I’ve been training since I was four. A fox might not be particularly useful in a fight, but a girl with super speed and a katana, I figured that would be helpful.”

Scott grinned tensely, “Okay, so yea, that might have been worth the one minute delay then.”

“I texted John. He’s in the middle of processing an arrest. He said he can’t leave right now without arousing too much suspicion, but he said he’ll meet us there in less than half an hour.”

Scott made it to the construction site in record time and parked a little down the block. He jumped out and saw that CJ was waiting a little further away. Derek and Scott rushed towards him and reached out for him once they were close. Scott held the back of his neck in a reassuring gesture and Derek checked the bandage that CJ had wound around his midsection. 

“They missed my lungs,” CJ said. “And I don’t think any important internal organs have burst yet. I have time.”

Derek nodded, “It seems like they kidnapped all of the human members of the pack, Sonia and Dayita included, all at the same time. And at least three men took Stiles.”

CJ’s eyes widened, “They must have at least two dozen people to have coordinated all of that.”

Scott nodded. Isaac stepped forward, “So, do we need a plan? Or can we just run in there and knock the shit out of some hunters?”

Scott shook his head, “Derek, Isaac, Agie, and me will go in first, try to clear out the first line of hunters. Then I want Kira and CJ to follow us. You guys need to find everyone. Sonia and Stiles, they should be able to help once they’re awake or something, right?”

“Sonia is probably just waiting for us to start the attack before she coordinates something. She could take them all out, but it’s risky with Dayita in there too. She’d have to focus on protecting all of them and attacking. It’s a lot to do.”

“Okay. Does that sound good? Does anyone have any better suggestions? No? Okay then let’s go.”

Scott was the first one through the door, but Derek was at his side within seconds. The two of them dodged the bullets that flew at them and then ran at the shooters while Isaac and Agie ran in. Scott pinned a guy up against the wall while Derek through his target clear across the room, where he crashed into a wall and slumped to the floor. 

Agie looked around in confusion. There were only two people guarding the front entrance? They must have known that they would be coming. As Agie was wondering if there were some deeper level to the trap than they suspected, she heard screaming and guns firing from further in the building. The four of them looked at each other and simultaneously began running in that direction. 

As they reached an inner room, Agie froze in shock. The floor and walls were splattered with blood. There was blood on the ceiling. 

And in the center of all of it stood Stiles. 

There were hunters crouched behind overturned tables and peering out from behind doors and pillars, intermittently taking shots at Stiles. Each bullet would evaporate as it came near him and Stiles would spin to try to see who at shot at him. 

Agie jumped as Stiles spun towards her. His eyes were solid black. A blond man was crouching behind a table a few yards to the side of her, and when Stiles’ black eyes landed on him, Stiles’ gave the most menacing grin Agie had ever seen before in her life. The man started screaming instantly, and then his head exploded in the most horrifying way. A part of Agie’s mind wanted to laugh because it looked like one of those exploding watermelons you’d see in a youtube video, but the other part of her brain just wanted to scream. 

None of the hunters were paying attention to the four werewolves standing in the wide doorway, but when Kira and CJ joined them, Kira’s gasp drew their attention. Half the guns in the room swung to point at them, and they all jumped back to hide behind the walls. 

CJ and Isaac were next to Agie, while the others were across the doorway from her. Suddenly, CJ perked up and whispered almost silently, “Sonia just got here.”

Agie risked a glance into the room and saw that all of the hunters had the guns pointed at Sonia as she walked steadily into the room. Each bullet they fired fell uselessly to the floor. She approached Stiles slowly, as if he were a wild animal, and when she was finally at his side, she placed her hand on the back of his neck, “Sleep, my child.”

Stiles fell instantly to the floor, and before any of the hunters could even begin to react, Sonia threw her hands out wide and each hunter dropped to the ground. 

“They’re all just asleep,” Sonia panted as she lowered herself onto her knees. “All of them. And there were almost a dozen upstairs. Allison, Lydia, and Cora are watching Dayita. Please, one of you go get them.” CJ rushed forwards as his wife swayed on her knees and caught her as she started to drift forward. 

Derek and Scott rushed to Stiles’ side, “Is he okay? What happened to him?” Derek growled.

Sonia looked over at Derek with a soft smile, “There were too many of you. He was sure that someone was going to get killed, and the thought made him lose control. His need to protect all of you took over.”

“But why… why did he kill them?” Scott demanded. 

Sonia looked saddened, “You know him better than I do.”

Agie looked down at Stiles, “He would have always killed to protect his family. He just never really had the ability to do any real damage. Other than with his baseball bat. But now… with magic? He can.”

Isaac and Kira came back into the room with Allison, Lydia, and Cora in tow. Dayita was still asleep in Allison’s arms, and Agie was glad. She was definitely going to have nightmares about this place, and it was nothing for a small child to see. They all kept walking straight out of the room without pause even though everyone’s eyes were wide with shock and horror as they walked.

“How long will these hunters sleep, my love?” CJ asked softly. 

Sonia sighed deeply before responding, “At least a few hours.”

“Why are you so wiped out?” Derek asked as he picked Stiles up and rose. “I watched you and Stiles practice for hours the other day and neither of you seemed at all bothered.”

Sonia shifted and rose slowly to her feet and helping CJ up too, “That was nothing. Like… the difference between flying a paper airplane and wrestling a gorilla. Getting past Stiles’ magic when he was that out of control? That was hard enough, but instantly putting eighteen men into a deep sleep? That was tough.”

Agie picked up a few of the hunter’s guns and smelled at the wolfsbane, “They all smell the same. Should I take the whole thing or just one bullet?”

“One bullet should be fine,” CJ responded as he and Sonia started walking towards the exit with Derek, Scott, and Agie taking up the rear. 

As they reach the exit, Uncle John rushed in with his gun out. “What happened to Stiles?”

“It’s done,” Scott said. “He’s fine. He…”

CJ waited for Scott to continue, but when he didn’t he spoke up, “Sonia, if you could help me with the bullet, I’ll help John clean all of this up.”

Sonia nodded and took the bullet from Agie as Derek and CJ began explaining what happened to Uncle John. Scott went outside to check in with the girls. Sonia came back a moment later as CJ unbound his bandage.

“Holy hell, what is wrong with you?” Uncle John exclaimed as he saw the bullet wound with angry black marks spreading across CJ’s abdomen. 

CJ and Sonia exchanged looks and Sonia spoke as she rubbed the blackened powder into CJ’s wound, “This is what a wolfsbane bullet wound looks like. I’m taking it you’ve never seen one before?”

Uncle John shook his head. “They told me about it, and the fire and everything, I just haven’t seen one before.” He looked over at Derek, “That’s what you looked like?”

Derek nodded, “I was actually a lot worse. I couldn’t get any of the wolfsbane to make the antidote and was almost dead before Scott and Stiles saved me.”

Scott came back in, “Derek, do you want to take Stiles home or do you want me to? Agie, everyone is getting ready to leave. Can you drive Sonia and Dayita home? I think that we can handle the cleanup.”

“I spoke to Chris,” Uncle John said, “he’ll be here in three hours. He said he can take care of the bodies and that he’ll handle communicating with all of the other hunters.”

“Oh good,” Scott said. 

Derek looked between CJ and Uncle John, “I can stay, if you want me to.”

“No, son. Take care of Stiles, please. I think the three of us can handle it, and Chris will be here in a few hours to help wrap everything up.”

Sonia turned and looked back towards the room where the carnage was. Her eyes went out of focus and after a few seconds she let out a big breath, “There. It’s … more contained. I got everything off the walls and ceilings. There’s not much I can do about the body parts… but you won’t need to mop as many surfaces any more.”

“Body parts?” Uncle John asked. “Mop?”


	22. Chapter 22

Sonia took Dayita home and after bathing both of them, she snuggled tight into her big bed. Once Dayita was bundled up tight, Sonia lifted the magic keeping her asleep. She stirred slightly, but it was a few minutes before her eyes finally opened. 

“Is it done, mommy?”

Sonia nodded, “Did you dream about any of that, mishti?”

Dayita smiled, “A little. But I also dreamed that everybody would be ok. Is everybody ok?”

“Yes.” She pulled her daughter close and they cuddled there until CJ came home a few hours later. They watched a few episodes of tv and sang songs together, but neither of them felt any real need to get out of bed. 

When CJ came home, he immediately showered and changed his clothes, and then climbed into bed with them. 

“John is a good man,” he said quietly. “And Chris Argent seems surprisingly reasonable too. He was furious with the hunters when the woke up and I’ve never seen actual fear and regret in a hunter’s eyes, but after his lecture, they actually looked a little contrite. He took them and promised that they would see justice. I’m not sure what he means, but Scott and John seemed to accept it.”

“Do they feel like pack?” Sonia asked. 

“They do. Do you feel safe?”

Sonia paused before responding, “I actually do. And Stiles definitely needs help with control. If he loses control that severely any time one of his pack members is threatened, well... that is very far from ideal. They said they wanted him to be their emissary. Emissaries are supposed to be liaisons, so they can’t just go around killing everyone who threatens them.”

CJ nodded. “Do you want to go over to Derek’s house tonight? Scott invited us for a pack dinner.”

“Sure. But after we cuddle more.”


	23. Chapter 23

Agie knew that everyone in the house was listening intently to the sound of Stiles sleeping upstairs, even though they were all trying to occupy themselves with other things. 

Cora had been wiping the same spot on the counter for nearly ten minutes, and Isaac, Lydia, Allison, and Kira were just sitting at the dining room table staring at playing cards in their hands. She didn’t think any of them had moved in several minutes. Everyone wanted to make sure that Stiles was okay. That he would wake up like his normal self. 

Agie had been the last one to shower the stench of death off of her, and after watching everyone for a few minutes, she walked over to Cora and pulled her into a strong hug. Cora initially flinched at Agie’s touch, but after a few minutes gripped onto her back and started sobbing. 

Isaac was there instantly, joining in for a group hug. Allison and Lydia joined a few seconds later, and Kira gingerly placed her arms around them all eventually too. 

“I’m sorry,” Cora gasped out once her sobs slowed a little, “I’m so so sorry.”

“Shhh,” Agie said. 

“It’s not your fault,” Lydia said, “We don’t blame you. You were as much a victim as we were.”

Cora pulled back slightly and stared at them, “But it is my fault. I should have known better.”

Allison shook her head, “Don’t ‘should have’ yourself. You made a mistake. They took advantage of you. None of us blame you and everybody is okay now. That’s all that really matters.”

Cora nodded, but dropped her head back onto Agie’s shoulder. 

They all lifted their heads a moment later as they heard Stiles shift and groan. 

“Derek?”

“I’m right here,” Derek replied. Agie wanted to go in and sit with her cousin, but they discussed it and thought that the whole pack might be too overwhelming for Stiles at first. Everyone agreed that until Uncle John came, Derek was the best one to sit with Stiles. 

“How did I get here?” Stiles sounded groggy, almost like he was hungover.

“We brought you back after Sonia knocked you out.”

“She what?”

“She used her magic to put you to sleep, and then she did the same thing to all of the hunters. She said that you were out of control.”

“I’ve… never felt so disconnected from my own body. I knew what I was doing and what I had to do… but it’s like my body and my magic were doing their own thing. It was scary.” Agie heard Stiles shifting around on the couch, as if he was sitting up.

“But why didn’t you just wait for us? You knew we would come. You knew I would come.”

“But Derek, that was the problem. There were too many hunters. I was afraid you would get hurt. I knew you would get hurt. You always get hurt. One time, you might get so hurt that even your healing won’t be enough. I … I could actually help. I wanted to protect you for once.”

Derek’s voice breaks as he says Stiles’ name, and there is the sound of shifting, moving cloth again. 

“Derek, please,” Stiles whispers, “please just hold me. I know… I don’t need anything more. Just, for now, please.”

“Of course,” Derek said as he moved and from the sounds of it the two of them sat on the couch and held each other. 

“Want to watch a movie?” Isaac suggested quietly. 

**

A few hours later, Uncle John and Scott showed up with almost a dozen pizzas. CJ, Sonia, and Dayita arrive shortly later. And then after everyone had finished eating, Chris arrived. He looked angrier than Agie had ever seen him, but he said that everything was taken care of. 

Agie sat back and looked around the room. Stiles was nestled beneath Derek’s arm and only inches away from Uncle John. He had hugged Sonia when she arrived and the look they exchanged carried hidden conversations within it. Scott had embraced Cora and told her that there was nothing to forgive--she hadn’t done anything wrong in his mind. 

Today had been one of the top ten scariest days of her life, but now that she was safe and surrounded by her pack, she felt happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG this is finally done!!! Alternating POVs is hard, folks.
> 
> A post-epilogue convo between Derek and Stiles:
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/15826659/chapters/36847995#workskin


End file.
